Wrangling a Hurricane
by LiveLaughLove728
Summary: Raising three kids is never easy. It's less easy when those kids happen to be legacies of two of the most famous demigods alive. Somehow the Jacksons make it all work. Pretty much. *Sequel to Climbing Mt. Everest*
1. A Hectic Morning

**Hi, everyone!**

 **This is a ridiculously long author's note, but it is really important, so I ask that you would please read it!**

 **So, as you probably know, about three years ago, I wrote a story called Climbing Mt. Everest, about adult life for Percy and Annabeth. This story was a huge success and turned out to be quite a bit longer than I ever planned for it to be. In the time since ending it, I have gotten numerous requests for a sequel. At first, I was hesitant because I had no real plans for one and wasn't sure what I would even include. However, after quite a while, a lot of thought, and some PMs from you guys, I've planned it out a bit and have decided to go ahead and write it.**

 **As it has been so long since I wrote CME, I'm not sure how many of you are even around anymore, so my plan is to post this first chapter as a one-shot for now and, depending on the response from you guys, I will decide whether or not to expand it from there. That being said, PLEASE let me know if you'd like me to continue with this or not. If you're no longer interested, that's totally fine. It's been 3 years. Things change.**

 **Also, since this is a sequel to CME,** _ **if you have not read that yet, I would**_ _ **definitely**_ _ **recommend you do so before reading this,**_ **as a lot of important details are covered in that story that will be addressed in chapters to come.**

 **Another important thing: CME was written before the release of Blood Of Olympus, and as such, not everything in that story can be considered canon anymore. My writing has also improved quite a bit in the last three years. For these reasons, I am thinking about going back and rewriting CME bit by bit to make it canon to the books. All major story lines will stay the same, but some of the minor stuff, Nico's situation for example, I will probably change to fit better. This leads me to my last question. The only major thing from CME that I could not easily change is the story line introduced in Trials of Apollo of Percy's little sister. CME is 77 chapters long and not one of them make any mention of a sister for Percy or an aunt for the children. I can do one of two things with this. First option, which I am leaning towards, is just to simply ignore ToA completely and use only the information from PJO and HoO for this story, which is how it is in CME. The other option is to include Percy's sister in this story without ever having her present in the prequel, which is not ideal for obvious reasons, number one being that because the baby hasn't actually been born yet in ToA and we don't even know so much as a name for her, I would have to make a lot up, which would then become inaccurate once we get more information in future books. You're the readers though, so it is up to you. I'd really appreciate your opinion on this!**

 **That all being said, I really enjoyed writing this first chapter and I'm really excited for the possibility of delving back into the specifics of life with the Jacksons!**

 **Please read and review. Enjoy!**

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Mornings at the Jackson residence were chaotic, to say the least. But then, with Annabeth and I both having full time jobs and three kids who were the opposite of morning people, this wasn't especially surprising.

On this particular morning, a Monday in early April, the sounds of children bickering sounded from the kitchen even before I set foot inside, ushering six-year old Carly in before me. We'd had a small crisis in the form of a missing left shoe and the two of us had spent the last few minutes dealing with it. Annabeth's voice greeted us as we stepped inside, reprimanding our son. "Logan, enough," she said sternly from the counter where she was putting lunches together for the three, "Leave your bother alone."

Logan and Nicholas, the source of the squabbling, were seated at the kitchen table, bowls of cereal in front of them. Nicky was glaring down at the table, the list of spelling words that he was being tested on later today lay in front of him. Logan, at Annabeth's words, looked as if a great injustice had occurred. He began to protest, "But—"

"But nothing," she interrupted him in her patented no-nonsense tone, "Drop it. Now." Logan huffed irritably in defeat and proceeded to eat his cereal in silence. Carly sat herself down in her spot next to Nicholas and I put a bowl together for her hoping we weren't running too late after the shoe debacle. She obediently set to eating and I crossed the kitchen to help Annabeth with the lunches. She was dressed professionally with her hair tied up in a knot at the back of her head and was placing a sandwich in each of the kids' lunchboxes.

"Did you find it?" she asked as I deposited a bottle of water into each after her while she moved to dividing pretzels into three Ziploc bags.

"Yeah," I answered, "It was wedged behind the couch. No idea how it got there." She shook her head and released her breath in a laugh. "Are the boys acting up?" I asked then, lowering my voice to keep said boys from overhearing.

She sighed, zipping Carly's lunchbox closed as she finished with it, "Nicky was studying his words and Logan corrected him when he mixed up the spelling. He didn't take it well and Logan wouldn't let it go." She turned and looked at me, her voice barely more than a whisper, "We're going to have to talk to him soon. Obviously the dyslexia is becoming more of a problem."

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck, "Yeah. Alright."

She watched me a moment in shared sympathy before speaking again, her voice returning to a normal volume. "I have to go into the office today for that presentation. You're still good to drop Nicky and Carly off, right?"

"Yeah, no problem. Are we still on for lunch later?"

"Yes, as long as nothing pressing comes up. You know how Mondays can be."

I hummed in acknowledgement, grabbing a glass from the cabinet behind me and pouring orange juice into it. Since the kids were born, Annabeth had taken to working from home as much as possible. Her job as an architect allowed her the leeway to do so. Typically, she only went into the firm on Thursdays, but occasionally she was called in for important meetings or presentations, like today, and had to leave earlier than usual. On these days, she drove Logan to school like normal but had to head into the city long before the elementary school started, which meant I drove Carly and Nicky on my way in. Not that this arrangement was bad in any way—I liked spending time with my kids before sending them off for the day—but it definitely served to add to our already hectic mornings. All three of them had the option to take the bus to school if they had to; the bus stop was just a few houses down the road, but we had agreed back when Logan first started school that it was probably safer for us just to drive him, and eventually his siblings. There was no telling how soon the monsters could smell them, as it wasn't as exact a science with legacies as it was for half-bloods (which wasn't saying much), and we figured it was better for everyone involved if we just drove them ourselves. My mom helped occasionally too. It probably made little difference in the grand scheme of things, but it made us feel better all the same.

Annabeth glanced at the stove clock, which read _7:13_. "Okay, Logan," she said, "Are you almost done? We have to get going soon." Logan, who had been drinking the last of the milk from his cereal, lowered the bowl and nodded, standing up. He deposited it in the sink. "Thank you," she said, coming up behind him and kissing the top of his head, a peace offering after disciplining him, "Go get your stuff together, okay?" He nodded and left the kitchen. Turning to me, Annabeth handed over his lunch. "Can you go put this in his backpack? He can't forget it again."

"Sure," I said, taking it. I met Logan at the bottom of the stairs. His backpack was slung over one shoulder and he had a sweatshirt gripped in his hand. "Here's your lunch, bud," I said, handing him the lunchbox, "Make sure it goes in your backpack. Mom won't be here today to bring it to you if you forget it again."

"Okay," he answered, taking it and putting it obediently in his bag. We walked together back to the kitchen, where Nicholas was placing his empty bowl in the sink and Annabeth was braiding Carly's hair. "I'm ready, Mom," Logan informed her from the doorway.

"Okay, great," she replied, looking away from Carly's curls and at him, "Can you get my work bag out of the office and put it and your backpack by the door? We'll leave in a minute." He nodded and left to do so, appearing again a moment later. Annabeth finished with Carly's hair and tied the braid off at the bottom. "Okay," she said, "I have to go." She bent to kiss our daughter goodbye and said, "Have a good day," before moving on to Nicky and doing the same. "Good luck on your spelling test," she told him. He nodded. She straightened and looked at me, stepping forward and adjusting the collar of my polo shirt, emblazoned with the logo of the aquarium I worked at. I smirked.

"Have a good day," I said.

"You too," she replied and kissed me quickly, "I'll see you later." I nodded and she stepped away, grabbing the travel mug of tea that waited on the counter.

Logan crossed to me and wrapped me in a loose one-armed hug. "Bye, Dad."

"Bye, buddy. Have a good day at school,"

"I will," he replied and moved toward the doorway.

Annabeth ushered him out before her a second later, calling, "I love you all," over her shoulder. The two left with replied love you too's and byes called after them. A moment later, I heard the front door open and close again, and it was just the three of us.

I took my own seat at the table and poured myself some cereal to eat quickly before we, too, had to leave. We still had half an hour. After a minute, Nicky, his spelling words still in front of him, looked up at me. "Dad," he asked as I chewed, "Can you test me on my words? Just the hard ones from last night?"

I swallowed, "Sure, kiddo." I reached out for the list and he handed it to me. I'd gone over it with him the night before and after struggling through the words for a while, he'd gotten pretty good with all but a few of them, though he still seemed unsure. Out of our three kids, Nicholas was the only one who seemed to have inherited Annabeth's and my dyslexia, at least to the extent where it was a problem. While all three of them were hyperactive, Logan had never had an issue with reading or writing, and Carly, though she was still young, seemed okay with it too.

It wasn't a sure thing that all demigods were dyslexic. Most were, but a lucky few, Frank Zhang for example, were not. Legacies were less likely than half-bloods to have it, and as it was genetic, there had always been the chance that some of our kids would have it while some wouldn't, which is what happened. Nicky tried really hard to keep up with his brother when it came to school. Both were incredibly smart, not unsurprisingly considering they had Annabeth as a mom, but Logan's grades tended to reflect this more than Nick's did, and the latter was often frustrated with school. It also seemed to be getting worse rather than better, which was why Annabeth was concerned.

It took some adjusting, but eventually it was possible to work around the dyslexia, as I knew only too well. School had been rough for me too, but in the time since, I'd learned to manage the condition. Nicky would figure it out too. It would just take some time. The main thing was making sure he didn't get too frustrated in the interim.

Chewing another bite of cereal, I scanned the list for the words I'd marked the night before as still requiring work. "Okay," I said, "Spell 'rhythm'."

He thought for a few seconds. "R…" he began, "Um, R-Y-H-T-H-M."

"Close," I told him, "You mixed up the 'Y' and the first 'H'."

Nick sighed. "Okay, so R… H-Y-H-T-M?"

"Nope. This time you mixed up the 'T' and the 'H.' Remember, 'T' always comes before 'H.'"

He groaned. Beside me, Carly finished her breakfast and followed her brothers' example, setting her bowl down in the sink as well. "Thanks, honey," I told her offhandedly, "Go put your backpack by the door, okay?" She nodded and left. I looked back at Nicholas. "It's okay. Try again." He took a deep breath and this time managed to spell it correctly. "That's right!" I said. He smiled, relieved.

He got 'assimilate' right on the first try, but struggled similarly with 'reservoir' and 'massacre.'

"It's alright," I told him after he finally spelled the last word and we had to leave in ten minutes, "Those words are hard. You did really good."

"But I'm still not good at them," he fretted, "I'll mix them up on the test."

"You'll be okay. Just go slow. Do your best. I promise we'll all still love you if you don't get them all right."

He sighed, still looking unhappy. "'Kay."

"Alright," I said, standing up and rinsing off my own dish before placing it in the sink with the others. They would have to be properly washed later. "You two come get your lunches and put them in your backpacks. I want shoes and coats on, and you ready at the door in five minutes."

"Okay," the two chorused, leaving to do just that.

Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up in front of Lincoln Elementary School. "Bye, Daddy!" Carly said, flinging her arms around me outside the car.

"Bye, Peanut. Have a good day, okay?"

"Okay!" she said. Nicholas stood on the sidewalk next to her, waiting. He was very good about walking inside with her. I let go of Carly and turned to him.

"Be good," I said, "Don't go too crazy over that test, okay? Just do your best." He nodded and offered a half-hearted hug before stepping back next to his waiting sister. "Hey," I said to him before they turned to go, holding up my left wrist, hand fisted.

Nicky, with a small smile, mimicked the action, showing me the bronze bracelet around his own wrist. It had become something of a shared gesture between us.

The bracelet, unbeknownst to most, had a small button on its side which, when pressed down twice in quick succession, caused it to elongate into a short sword made of Celestial Bronze. It was a gift from Tyson, which we had given to Nick after he'd learned the truth about his godly heritage shortly before Christmas. The bracelet's twin belonged to Logan and he'd been forced once to use it, about a year ago. So far, Nicky had been lucky, but now that he knew the truth, he needed a means to protect himself, should anything happen, and it eased my mind to know he had one if needed; that they both did. Nick hadn't trained at camp yet, but even with almost no battle training, he was safer with a weapon. I knew this from experience.

Smiling back at him, I dropped my hand back to my side and watched as my kids turned and walked inside together before getting back in the car and heading toward the city.

It was mornings like this when I truly appreciated just how chaotic having kids could be, when we all had different places to be at similar times and the logistics of getting everyone where they needed to go was nothing short of a fiasco.

When we'd first had them, I expected it would be trying at times, what with Annabeth and me holding down full time jobs as well as raising three young children who were each so very different and amazing, but I'd had no idea just how crazy it would be. Even so, I loved every chaotic minute. Even when some days with them were comparable to trying to wrangle a hurricane, I wouldn't have traded it for the world.

After all, Logan, Nicholas, and Carly were living proof of just how far Annabeth and I had come, and the life we all led was everything we'd fought so long and hard for. It was all either of us had ever wanted in life. And it was absolutely worth every argument, temper tantrum, and stressful morning that came with it.

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 **Thanks for reading and please, if you don't mind, let me know you're still here and what you think about the things mentioned in the AN above! I'd really appreciate your help in determining the future of this story!**


	2. This is How a Heart Beats

**Hey guys! I hope you had a fabulous Christmas!**

 **As you can see, I am continuing with this story. The amount of feedback I received was awesome, and you all seem super excited, which is great!**

 **Thanks for all your reviews. They were super helpful.** **Most of you seemed to agree with my thoughts on not including Percy's sister in this story, which is fine. I'm not sure that everyone has read The Hidden Oracle anyway, so I don't think it's a big deal. After I post this I am going to start editing CME little by little as well too, just so it matches up with this a little better.**

 **Since I am planning to continue with this, I thought it might be helpful for me to give you the current ages of all the characters so you can keep track of them. Percy and Annabeth are 36. Logan is 12 and in 7th grade. Nicholas is 9, going on 10, and in 4th grade. Carly is 6 and in 1st grade. It took me way longer than it should have for me to figure out all that math based on the ages they were when CME left off, but I believe that ages and grades are all correct. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.**

 **This chapter is pretty boring. It sets up a few more plot lines I want to address in the future but does little else. Even so, I hope you enjoy it.**

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Some things never change.

It was for this reason that I rounded the last corner of our street in a dead sprint, breathing heavily, with Annabeth on my heels. Our driveway, serving as the finish line, was about three hundred feet away now and we had been quickly closing the distance to it since our morning jog had turned into a footrace five hundred feet earlier. She'd started it, but I was determined to win.

Annabeth and I had been married now for almost fifteen years, but this had done nothing to rid us of our competitive nature.

In the years since we'd stopped training at camp regularly, we'd made it a habit of still working out often whenever possible. It had always been a point that was heavily stressed by Chiron; that it was impossible to effectively fight monsters without the training to do so and the stamina to keep up. I'd fought the Minotaur at twelve with neither, but I'd also been lucky to get out alive and was unconscious for two days after, so there was probably some wisdom in that.

We'd mapped out a three mile circuit in our neighborhood shortly after moving in and ran it regularly, though rare was the occasion lately when we were able to do so together. Today, when the opportunity presented itself, we'd taken it.

We were at the edge of our front yard now and Annabeth had gained on me. I was ahead by inches. Maybe. I pushed myself even harder for the last few steps. She, of course, did the same. It was outrageously close.

"I won," I insisted a minute later as we stood at the edge of the driveway, catching our breath.

Annabeth shook her head. "That was way too close to call."

"Yeah, okay," I replied sardonically, and then, after a few seconds added, "That's not as easy to do as it used to be." As a teenager, I sprinted like that all the time and barely broke a sweat doing it. I couldn't decide whether I was grateful or not that I couldn't do that anymore. On the one hand, I was getting old; on the other, I'd lived long enough to get that way.

Annabeth, still breathing heavily, shook her head, agreeing. "We're not sixteen anymore."

"We put on a good front though, right?" she laughed and started walking toward the house.

We were a few feet from the front door when it opened to reveal Thalia, Daughter of Zeus and Hunter of Artemis, standing in the doorway. She looked exactly as she had the day before her sixteenth birthday, but was dressed more normally than she usually did, wearing a band T-shirt and a pair of jeans with only her silver circlet, symbolizing her status as first lieutenant, to show her affiliation with the Hunters. She was barefoot and held Annabeth's cell phone in her hand. "Oh good," she said when she saw us, "You're back. Your dad's on the phone," she told Annabeth, holding it out to her. "I figured you wouldn't care if I answered,"

"No. Thanks, Thals," Annabeth said, taking it from her. The daughter of Zeus stepped aside and allowed her in before following. I brought up the rear, closing the door behind me.

The Hunters were staying nearby for a few days and Thalia had gotten permission from Artemis to stay with us for the weekend, on the condition that she checked in with them daily. She'd offered to keep an eye on Carly for us while we'd been gone. The boys were spending the weekend at camp. I'd dropped them off late yesterday afternoon after ensuring all homework was finished.

"Is Carly up yet?" I asked, following Thalia inside and leaving my shoes by the door. She'd still been asleep when we left, but it was well after eight now. We'd been gone for maybe half an hour, and Carly wasn't as fond of sleeping in as her brothers were.

"Yup," Thalia answered, walking toward the kitchen, "She's in here. I made breakfast. You can have some too, if you want." She looked back at me with playful wide-eyed innocence, "I promise I didn't spit in it."

I laughed, walking with her into the kitchen. Annabeth had disappeared somewhere with her phone call. "I'm sure the Hunters are disappointed you didn't."

"Oh yeah. They couldn't believe I wanted to spend the weekend at a _man's_ house." She grinned.

"I know. Us men are just terrible."

"Mmhmm," Thalia agreed sweetly, sitting down at the table with a pajama-clad Carly, who was eating scrambled eggs and playing with a Barbie doll. As Thalia had promised, a lot more food waited on the stove, hot and ready. She'd clearly made enough for everyone. First priority, however, was water. I pulled a glass from the cabinet and filled it, downed it, and filled it again. My daughter, meanwhile, was questioning Thalia about her opinion of the blue dress for Barbie over Carly's favorite, the red one. "That one's pretty," Thalia said of Carly's choice, "But look how long it is. Barbie wouldn't be able to run in it. She'd trip. The blue one is shorter, see? She could run around no problem in it."

"But you don't run in dresses," Carly argued.

"Says who?"

"Mommy."

"Oh, well that must be true then, cause your mommy's the smartest person I know," Thalia said, "So you know what Barbie needs, then?"

"What?"

"Pants. Then she can run and jump and do all kinds of stuff and it won't matter."

"No!" Carly laughed.

I watched the exchange while I scooped myself some of the breakfast Thalia made, and couldn't help thinking that it was a bit of a shame that she was an eternal maiden because she would have made a heck of a mom. She was really awesome with kids. All three of mine adored her, especially Carly. But then, given what I knew about her upbringing with Jason and later with Annabeth, I supposed it wasn't really that surprising.

Carly looked at me as I sat down across from her, her conversation with Thalia apparently forgotten. "Daddy, can we get a puppy?" she asked out of nowhere.

I stopped, a forkful of eggs halfway to my mouth. From the corner of my eye, I saw Thalia's amused smirk. "Um, no," I answered and raised an accusing eyebrow at her.

"Don't look at me," the daughter of Zeus said, raising her hands defensively, "I had nothing to do with this."

"Why?" Carly asked me, unwavering.

"Because Mommy and I work all day and there would be nobody here to take care of it," I told her.

"But Mommy's home most days."

"But not everyday. A dog would need someone everyday. And she's still really busy, even when she's home."

"Oh," Carly said sadly, "Can we still ask Mommy?"

"Ask Mommy what?" Annabeth asked, appearing in the doorway and crossing the kitchen to us.

"If we can get a puppy," Carly supplied hopefully.

"No," Annabeth said quickly, and then glared at me.

"What?" I asked, "I already said no." Frankly, I thought my argument had been pretty sound, considering I hadn't thought about a response beforehand. The question had been pretty out of the blue, and it wasn't one I'd had to answer before. Logan had asked Annabeth for a dog shortly after Carly was born, but had been refused and dropped the issue shortly after. We hadn't heard anything about the subject since. Until now.

Annabeth just looked between Carly and me and turned, with a sigh, toward the stove. I shrugged at Carly. "Sorry, kiddo." The six year old looked sad for a moment, but went back to picking at her food easily enough and seemed fine after a minute.

Thalia, still wearing an amused smirk, looked between us. "How was your run?" she asked.

"Good," Annabeth said, sitting down next to me, "I beat Percy."

I looked at her. "Uh, no. You said it was a tie."

"Only because you definitely _didn't_ win."

"I beg to differ."

Annabeth snorted. Thalia was shaking her head. "You two amaze me," she said.

"This is really good, by the way," I told her, changing the subject.

"Of course it is," the daughter of Zeus scoffed, "I can be domesticated when I want to."

"Did the Hunters teach you how to cook?" Annabeth asked with a smirk.

"Yeah," she admitted, "Turns out archery isn't the only thing I learned from them. We cook in rotations." She paused and glanced down at the watch around her wrist, "Speaking of which, I should probably check in with them before it gets much later." She stood up. "I'll be right back."

"Everything okay with your dad?" I asked Annabeth once Thalia had gone.

She nodded, swallowing another bite of food, "Yeah. He called to let me know he and Theresa are going to be in New York next month. They want to get together with us. He's going to e-mail me dates."

"Grandma and Grandpa Chase are coming?" Carly asked. Annabeth nodded.

"Will they be here before the kids get out of school?" I asked.

"I don't know. Hopefully not. I know they'd like to see them."

"It's been a while."

She nodded. "I wish they lived closer sometimes. We could see them more."

"Are Uncle Matthew and Uncle Bobby coming too?" Carly asked.

"I don't know," Annabeth told her, "Aunt Brianna is having the baby really soon, so Uncle Bobby probably won't, but maybe Uncle Matthew can. We'll have to ask him."

"Okay," Carly answered easily, pushing her mostly empty plate away.

"Are you done eating?" Annabeth asked her. She nodded. "Put your plate in the sink, please."

"Can we go to the park?" she asked, standing to do as she was told.

"Maybe in a little while," Annabeth told her, "We have to go grocery shopping today though. And we promised Grandma Sally we'd go there for dinner tonight, remember?"

Carly considered this, and then asked, "Can Aunt Thalia take me to the park while you go grocery shopping?"

Annabeth looked at me, smirking, before telling her, "If it's okay with her, yeah, she can."

"Yay!" Carly cried, and Thalia had yet to set foot back in the room a minute later before she did, in fact, ask her. "Can you take me to the park?" she asked.

Thalia blinked. "Yeah, sure. If it's okay with-"

"It is. Mommy said I can. I don't wanna go grocery shopping."

"I don't blame you," Thalia told her with a smirk.

"Can we go now?"

"We can, but I think you should probably put some clothes on first," Thalia told her reasonably.

"Okay!" Carly said and took off. A moment later, we heard her thundering up the stairs to her room.

"I think you just made her day," I informed Thalia as she retook her seat to wait.

"You don't mind, right?" Annabeth asked.

"Of course not," she said, "I love that little girl." She smirked, "And I'm hoping to recruit her for the Hunters one day, so better to get on her good side now."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," I told her.

"And it'll be up to her," Annabeth said.

"That's all I want to hear," Thalia said with a smile.

Annabeth and I finished eating and I was rinsing our plates off in the sink when Carly returned, dressed accordingly in a purple T-shirt and jeans. "Ready!" she declared.

"Awesome!" Thalia said, standing up, "Let's go." Carly led the way to the door, and a minute later, they were gone.

The second the front door closed behind them, Annabeth stood up. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" I asked, leaning against the counter.

"I was going to go take a shower and, since we have the morning off now, I thought you could join me. Unless you don't want to…?" She quirked an eyebrow.

I straightened, smiling and more thankful for Thalia Grace than I'd been in a really long time, I followed a smirking Annabeth out of the kitchen.

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 **Thanks for reading!  
**

 **The title for this chapter is super random. I found it online and liked it, but it has nothing to do with anything, really. If anyone has any better chapter titles, please let me know.**

 **Also, FF is being super annoying at the moment and not saving the cover pictures I set for the last few recent stories I've posted. If you could do me a favor and let me know which picture you see with this story, I'd appreciate it. The picture I set for it is a silhouette of a family of five. What I think it's showing is my profile picture, which is a colorful rose, because it seems to think I have not set a picture. And if anyone knows how I can fix this, I would greatly appreciate your help!**


	3. Nothing Wrong With Normal

**Hi guys! Happy new year!**

 **I wanted to have this chapter posted much earlier, but the last few days have been busier than I thought they would. I would like to get maybe one more update in before the semester starts on Monday. Also, if anyone is interested, I started with the rewriting I mentioned wanting to do with CME. I have through Logan's birth rewritten already and I plan to continue conquering chapters when I have time.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm not sure it came out anything like I meant it to, but I don't think it's terrible. It's so strange to write Percy as a parent though. The kids were so young last time. It's a different dynamic with them now!**

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"How was the museum?" I asked Logan, walking with him from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to my parked car a block away. Oak Grove Junior High had sent their seventh graders on an end of the year field trip today and I had arranged to pick him up there after work while I was in the city. The irony of the situation was not lost on me.

"It was pretty cool," he answered, "But the guy who showed us the Greek and Roman exhibits had no idea what he was talking about."

I smirked. "Yeah, they usually don't."

"And I don't get how some of those paintings are worth millions of dollars. I guess some of them are nice, but a lot of them I think the Apollo kids could have done better."

I laughed. "That's probably true."

"Yeah. But it was a good trip, I guess. I liked it better than sitting in school all day."

"I don't blame you there," I said, unlocking the car. Logan climbed in the passenger seat.

"Are we still going to Grandma and Grandpa's?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered, "We're already here. I don't want to take you home and then drive all the way back to Manhattan."

He nodded. "What do you have to do there again?"

"Their kitchen sink is broken. It's been leaking all over the floor. I said I'd help fix it before there's a flood."

"Isn't the landlord guy supposed to do that?"

"Yeah, he is, but he's on vacation this week and they haven't been able to get a hold of him. Grandpa can fix it, but he can't take the plumbing apart if the water is still running in the apartment."

"So what are you gonna do then?"

I smirked, stopping at a traffic light. "Stop the water."

Logan looked at me, a grin spreading across his face. "You mean you're gonna use your powers?"

"Yeah. I can hold the water back while Grandpa takes the pipes apart so it doesn't spray everywhere."

"Cool," he said. He sounded so impressed by the idea. "I wish I could do that."

"Maybe you will one day," I told him, "Everyone's powers are different. And it takes practice." So far, Logan's abilities over water seemed relegated mostly to open sources of it, like lakes or the ocean. When provoked, he had made a water fountain explode in elementary school though, so maybe one day he'd be able to control plumbing too. Although the fact that he, as a legacy, had any ability over water was impressive. Second generation half-bloods normally did not inherit powers.

Nicholas, so far, seemed to lack the skill. He could just manage small ripples if he focused extremely hard, but it was nothing compared to his brother. It was a sore point between the boys.

Logan nodded, considering my words, and then looked out the window. "Dad," he said after a few minutes, looking back at me, "This morning when Mom dropped me off she had this weird smile on her face. I asked her what was so funny and she said to ask you about your field trip to the Met. What was she talking about?"

I chuckled. "When I was in sixth grade, my class went to the Met. I didn't know I was a half-blood yet and while we were there, I got attacked by a Fury."

" _What?_ " he enunciated. "You've been attacked by a _Fury_?"

"Yeah," I said, "You didn't know that?"

"No. What happened?"

"She was disguised as my math teacher. She pulled me aside after I soaked Nancy Bobofit with the fountain outside. I thought she was going to give me detention. I was pretty surprised when she tried to kill me."

"How did you kill her?"

"Chiron—he was my Latin teacher, remember?" Logan nodded, "He threw me a pen and when I caught it, it was a sword."

"That was Riptide, wasn't it?"

"Yeah it was. He didn't tell me that though. For a minute, I really thought he expected me to kill the thing with a pen." Logan laughed. He was enjoying the story quite a bit. I shook my head, grinning at the memory. "I thought I had lost my mind."

"How many monster attacks did you _have_ before you found out about everything?"

"Just two. That one and the night I got to camp," I answered.

"Oh," he said, looking thoughtful, "Um, do the Furies normally attack half-bloods?"

"No. They usually stay down in the Underworld. Alecto came after me because the Helm of Darkness had been stolen along with the Master Bolt and everyone thought I had it."

"But you didn't." He knew the details surrounding the quest for Zeus' bolt. I could see him putting them together with this new information.

"Of course not. I had no idea what was happening."

"You had to fight a lot of monsters when you were younger, didn't you? Like a _lot,_ a lot."

"Yeah, I did. It was different back then. The wars caused a lot more monsters than normal, and even after they were over, it took a few years to get the numbers back under control again."

"I've only been attacked that one time," Logan said quietly. "And I've known about everything for years." When he started sixth grade, a Laistrygonian giant had caught up with him at school and he'd narrowly avoided suspension when Oak Grove's art room had been destroyed. He'd been eleven, which still seemed very young, even if though he was more than capable. "I mean, I fight monsters at camp sometimes, but that's not really the same thing."

"Be grateful," I told him seriously, "You've been really lucky. It'll get worse as you get older, but for now I'm glad you haven't had to fight many on your own. I know it sounds cool in stories, but growing up like that isn't easy, Logan. I don't want that for you."

"I know, Dad. I am grateful." He glanced sideways at me, "I just think it would be cool to have awesome stories too."

"You will," I assured him. "And trust me, in a few years you'll probably be just as sick of fighting monsters as I am." He just smiled and looked out the window again.

My mom answered the door for us a few minutes later, looking happy to see us as well as relieved that her kitchen would finally be fixed. Logan hugged her and then eyed her hopefully. "Do you have cookies?" he asked.

She just smiled. "They're waiting for you in the kitchen."

"Yes! Thanks, Grandma!" he said in delight, and took off.

She watched him go and then looked at me. "He reminds me so much of you." I smiled. "Thank you for coming," she said, "I think the leaking's gotten worse since yesterday."

"Yeah, no problem," I told her, walking with her into the apartment, toward the kitchen where Logan had vanished.

"Easy, Champ," Paul cautioned halfheartedly as we walked in, "Don't eat too many of those. Your mom won't be happy if you don't eat dinner later." He sat at the kitchen table, watching his grandson. Logan stood in front of the counter, where a fresh plate of blue chocolate chip cookies sat as promised. My stepdad looked highly amused.

"I'll eat dinner," Logan assured him easily, grabbing another.

"Oh," Paul said, smirking, "Well, I guess it's okay then." The sarcasm in this statement was undeniable. He looked at me. "Hey, good to see ya."

"Hi," I grinned and then looked at Logan myself. "How many of those have you had already? We've been here thirty seconds."

He held up the cookie in his hand. "This is only my third," he defended.

"And it's your last too," I told him.

"But—"

"You'll thank me later. You know your mom's gonna ask and I'm not lying for you." Logan was going through a growth spurt, which, for a couple weeks now, had him devouring everything in sight. Even if and when he did eat dinner later, Annabeth would still kill him, and by extension me, if she knew he had more than that.

"Okay," he sighed dramatically and threw himself down in the chair next to his grandfather.

Paul looked amused. "You want to get started?" he asked me.

"Sure," I said.

Under the sink, a bucket stood, catching the water that dripped from the plumbing at an alarming rate. A number of cleaning products and other things that normally resided under the sink had taken up residence on the counter next to it to make room.

I clenched my hand at my side and instantly felt the water inside the pipes halt and recede. The leaking stopped and Paul grinned at me. "I appreciate those powers of yours more and more," he said, crouching down and removing the bucket to allow him room to work. "Want to help?" he asked, looking back at Logan, who was watching from his seat in mild interest.

The twelve-year old shrugged and then stood. "What do we have to do?"

"See all these pipes down here?" Paul explained, "They're pretty old and the seals on the joints here are worn away. That's why the water leaks out. We have to take these pipes apart and reseal them."

I watched as the two set to work, leaning against the counter and staying out of the way. My job was easy and required little thought. I could have helped, but Paul had all the assistance he needed. I glanced at my mom. She was watching her husband and grandson work from the doorway with a pleased smile.

"Perce," Paul said then, "Hand me that wrench there, would you?"

I looked where he pointed and grabbed the tool that sat on the countertop. "No problem."

Logan watched him work in fascination, handing him tools and parts when asked. When the first of the pipes came out, Paul let him seal the inside. "How do you know this stuff?" Logan asked him.

"My uncle was a plumber," he explained, "I worked with him a little before college. Picked up a few tricks."

"Cool."

It took maybe half an hour to complete the job. My mom disappeared for a while and then came back. Logan never lost interest. He liked learning how things worked and it was a good experience for him. Paul let him tighten the joints, and when he double-checked the work, smiled. "Good job!" Logan beamed.

"Alright, Champ," he said, sitting back when they finished a minute later, "That's it. Moment of truth; let's see if our work holds water. Go ahead, Percy." Slowly, I unclenched my fist and gradually let the water flow back under the sink. We all waited, watching. The seals held fast. Paul grinned and high-fived Logan. "Nice work!"

Logan, looking pleased, stood up. "Thank you for your help," my mom said, hugging him. He smiled at her. "Oh!" she said suddenly, "There's something I want to show you. Come here." Curious, he followed after her.

Paul stood and rinsed the grime from the plumbing off his hands. He smiled at me. "Thanks for letting him help you," I said, "He enjoyed that."

"Of course. You know I can't resist your kids."

I laughed. "I know."

He clapped me on the shoulder. "Thanks for your help too. It's probably not as much fun as creating hurricanes, but we couldn't have done anything without you. I appreciate it."

"Yeah, no problem."

I glanced at the clock on the stove. It was still about an hour before the worst of rush hour but it was getting late. Paul noticed. "You have to get going soon," he noted.

"Yeah. I know we just got here but I told Annabeth we'd be home before dinner. I'm hoping to beat traffic."

"Don't worry about it," Paul said, "We understand. And you're all coming over for dinner this weekend, aren't you?"

"I think so, yeah."

"That's good. I promised Nicky I'd play checkers with him."

I laughed. "He'll hold you to that."

He smiled, "Shall we go see what trouble those two are getting into?"

My mom was in the living room with Logan, a book open before them. He held a small square of paper in his hands and they were looking at it together. "Dad, look!" he said when we walked in. He held it out to me.

I crossed the small room and took it. It was an old ultrasound photo of Logan, a few months before he was born. I smiled, glancing up at my mom. "I can't believe you still have this."

"I forgot I did. I found it sticking out of an old photo album yesterday."

"Do we have pictures like this at home?" Logan asked me.

"Um, we used to. The doctor gave them to us every month before you guys were born. I bet we do. You'll have to ask Mom where they are though." I looked at the picture again and shook my head. "Gods, this was twelve years ago." It didn't feel even remotely that long.

My mom laughed. "Now you know how the rest of us old people feel."

"Thanks a lot," I said. Logan was still standing next to me. I looked at him. "You ready to go? If we don't leave soon, we'll never make it home."

He nodded. "Can I have one more cookie?" he asked hopefully.

I smirked. "I suppose, yeah."

"Yes!"

I followed him into the kitchen—to ensure he really did only have one more—and grabbed a cookie for myself as well. "Take them home with you," my mom suggested, smirking in the doorway, "Gods know we don't need them." Logan looked at me expectantly.

I rolled my eyes, smiling. "Alright."

A few minutes later, Logan and I stood at the door, loaded down with a dozen blue cookies. "Thank you so much for getting those pipes fixed," my mom said, hugging us, "I can put my kitchen back together now."

"No problem, Mom. See ya, Paul."

"Bye, Percy. We'll see you all Saturday." They both hugged Logan goodbye.

A few minutes later, as we got in the car, Logan looked at me. He'd been quiet since we'd left my parents' apartment. "Did you know Grandpa knew how to do that stuff?" he asked.

"Yup. I helped him out a few times when I was younger." I smiled. "More than once it was my fault the plumbing broke in the first place."

"But he's an English teacher."

"So?"

"I don't know. It's just surprising, I guess."

"That he can do both?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. Like, it's cool."

"It is cool. And it's important to be able to do more than one thing, especially when you're like us. At camp, being great at sword fighting and Pegasus riding is well and good, but it won't get you very far in the mortal world."

"Like Mom with architecture?"

"Exactly. She's the best battle strategist I know, and that was really useful when we were fighting wars, but her boss and clients don't care about that. What matters to them is that she can design awesome buildings." Annabeth and I made a point of giving our kids the best chance we could at normal lives. There was a lot of pressure on the boys, and Carly too one day, as our children and we wanted them to know they didn't have to live up to anyone's expectations but their own.

"What about when you're fighting monsters?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, that's different. That's why you need both kinds of skills. Godly skills are necessary in the gods' world, and regular skills are necessary in the mortal one. We need both because we're part of both."

"Well I learned some normal skills today," Logan summed up, "But I still want to control water like you someday."

I smiled. "I want to you to too. But even if you don't, there's nothing wrong being a little normal."

He nodded. "I know that." And I could tell that he did.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Please review!  
**


	4. Ignorance is Bliss

**Hi, everyone! SO sorry for the long wait for this update. I know I promised it forever ago.**

 **This chapter is formatted more like CME was. I can't decide whether I like it or if it's too scatterbrained, but it's all I've got for the time being, and I did want to include Annabeth's side of the family. Let me know what you think!**

* * *

"She's gorgeous, guys," Annabeth said, cradling her niece, Ava, in her arms. Bobby, who stood beside me, and his wife, Brianna, smiled on proudly.

We were in California, at Annabeth's parents' house. Bobby and his family had stopped by to see us and allow us to meet their newest addition. Their older daughter, Olivia, just shy of four years old, played outside with Carly on the back porch.

The yearly peace celebration the Greeks and Romans participated in each year was set to take place at Camp Jupiter in two days' time and Frederick and Theresa had invited us to stay with them for a few days beforehand. They had been in New York at the beginning of the summer for a conference but it was nice to see them again so soon. Normally, far more time passed between visits.

We'd flown in from New York late the previous night and were spending the days before the celebration in San Francisco. Many of Camp Half-Blood's campers were travelling to California as well but we'd picked Logan and Nicky up early and brought them down with us so the Chases could see them. Matthew, Bobby's twin, and his fiancée, Liz, were joining us later for dinner.

Liz didn't know about half-bloods and Brianna had only just found out for herself about a year ago. The twins were fully mortal and, as such, their significant others were as well. It made for an interesting situation at times, but with Carly still very much in the dark about her godly heritage, it wasn't normally too difficult to keep things on the D.L. Once all of our kids knew, it might get more complicated. For now, though, it was mostly fine.

 _Mostly,_ because of the empousa attack the last time we'd been in town that had led to Brianna's learning the truth in the first place. That had been a difficult conversation, but she'd taken it pretty well.

Annabeth, seated on the couch next to her sister-in-law, tore her eyes away from the newborn now and smiled up at me. She loved babies. She had been adamant for some time now though that we would not be having any more, and after what happened after Carly's birth, that was pretty okay with me. Instead, with her brothers now at childbearing age, she was content to spoil theirs. I smiled back.

"Does she sleep well?" she asked, turning back again.

"Actually, yeah. She's really good," answered Brianna, "Better than Liv was at her age."

"But Liv was an awful sleeper," Bobby put in with a smirk.

"Well, yeah," his wife laughed. She looked between us and then shook her head, sighing. "I don't know how you guys do it with three. Having _two_ kids is exhausting."

"Going from one to two is harder than from two to three," Annabeth said understandingly. I nodded. "You get used to it."

The back door sliding open sounded from the next room. Any response Brianna may have had to Annabeth's words was cut short when, a few seconds later, Carly appeared, running into the living room and up to me with tears in her green eyes. "Daddy!" she sobbed, and holding her right hand out, "Daddy, I got a splinter! Get it out! It hurts!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down," I said, taking her hand in mine to examine the splinter of wood imbedded in the skin of her pinky.

"It's a splinter," she insisted tearfully.

"Yeah, it is. It's okay." I stood up, "Come on. We'll go ask Grandma for some tweezers and take it out."

"But it'll hurt."

"Maybe, but it will hurt more if you leave it in," I said reasonably.

She considered that, and then looked to Annabeth for confirmation of this. She nodded. "Okay," Carly said hesitantly.

"It'll be okay," I promised, taking her uninjured hand in mine. Gods know, at six years old there's _nothing_ worse than a splinter.

* * *

"So," Frederick asked, standing a little to my left as I threw a baseball back and forth with Logan in the yard, "How're the boys doing with camp?" He'd wandered out to watch a few minutes ago, and it was just the three of us.

I caught the ball out of the air and glanced sideways at him quickly before turning back and lobbing the ball to Logan again. It still took me by surprise sometimes to hear Annabeth's family discuss the half-blood aspects of our lives so casually now, when it had been such a sore point not all that long ago.

Logan caught the pitch beautifully. He'd shown a real interest in baseball over the past year and planned to try out for his school team in the coming year. He asked me to play catch with him at every opportunity and liked a challenge. He stood far enough away from us to be out of earshot.

"They're doing really well," I answered, "Unfortunately we've left them quite a legacy to live up to, but I think they handle it pretty well."

Frederick nodded. "And Carly?"

"We haven't told her yet. There've been a few close calls, but so far we haven't had to."

"She hasn't had any nightmares like Logan did, has she?"

"No, not so far. Nicky never did, so I'm hoping it's that way with her too."

"You don't want to tell her until you have to." It wasn't a question.

I nodded, throwing another pass at Logan, "It's more dangerous once they know."

"And she's your little girl," he supplied knowingly.

I smiled a little, Logan's pitch making contact with my glove, "Yeah," I admitted. The image of little Carly learning to fight with weapons and facing down monsters was not one I wanted to have to picture just yet. She was still very young. Logan had only learned at her age because we'd had no choice. I was personally hoping for a few more years of ignorance for her.

Our family wasn't the only one with kids not in the know, and the celebrations held every year between the camps had changed over the years to support this. We all did the best we could to keep the little ones safe and out of the loop as much as we could. So far, we'd been lucky.

Frederick looked thoughtful and was quiet for a moment. Logan sent another powerful throw my way. "Nice!" I called. He grinned.

"I don't think I've ever actually thanked you, Percy," Frederick said after I threw the ball back. It went a little long and bounced off the tip of Logan's glove. He trotted after it.

I looked at my father-in-law in confusion. "For what?"

Annabeth's father watched Logan retrieve the ball and wind up to throw it back. His eyes stayed focused there as he answered. "For taking care of Annabeth like you have." He looked at me now. "She's _my_ little girl and I've always wanted the best for her. I regret the way I handled parenting when she was young, I didn't know how to deal with it all. But you've given her everything I've ever wanted for her, and in a way it's because of you that we have the relationship we do now. So thank you." In my shock at his unexpected words, I completely missed the baseball Logan threw back. It flew right past me.

"Dad!" he complained.

"Sorry!" I called, trotting over to where it landed in the grass and sending it back.

Frederick smirked in amusement as I returned to my original spot. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to throw you off guard."

"No, it's okay. Um…" I caught Logan's ball again, "You're welcome." I threw it back, "But you can't really give me all the credit. Annabeth doesn't do anything she doesn't want to."

Frederick laughed. "That I know all too well."

* * *

Matthew and Liz arrived about an hour before dinner. Theresa cooked a huge meal, which Brianna had to leave halfway through to tend to a fussy baby—those were days I remembered well and was glad to be past. She returned a few minutes later with Ava cradled to her chest and quiet so long as she was held.

"Hey, Nick," Matthew said across the table to his nephew, "It's your birthday pretty soon, isn't it?"

Nicholas nodded. "On Wednesday. Dad's is on Tuesday."

"How old are you turning?" Liz asked from beside Matthew.

"Ten," he answered proudly.

"Wow," Matthew said, "You're getting _old_." He grinned and looked at me, "And you must be, what, fifty now?" he joked.

"Oh, _thanks_ ," I said.

"Daddy's not old!" Carly defended, and then looked at me like she couldn't process such a strange thought.

"Thank you, Peanut," I said emphatically.

"Well," Annabeth said lightly from beside me, "If thirty-seven's old, then we're old together." She looked at her bother, "But you're not that far behind."

"Please," said Theresa from the other end of the table, "None of you are old. If you're old, then I'm absolutely ancient, and I refuse to be ancient."

"So, Nicky," Brianna said, turning the conversation back to him, "Did you ask for anything cool for your birthday?"

Nicholas shrugged. "Yeah. A skateboard. I really want a puppy—"

"Me too!" cried Carly. Annabeth groaned. The kids had ganged up on us one by one on the puppy thing.

"—but Mom said no," he continued, unfazed by his sister's interruption.

Frederick looked at Annabeth curiously. "You don't want a dog?" he asked.

Annabeth looked back at her father with an expression that I easily read to mean she didn't want to have this conversation in front of our kids. Frederick seemed oblivious of this. "I don't know," she answered, "But if we did decide to get one—and we're not," she added quickly, glancing toward our listening children and back to her dad again, "I wouldn't get it as a birthday present for one kid and not the others. I break up enough arguments as it is." This got numerous chuckles from the parents around the table. She glanced back at Logan, Nicky, and Carly as she said it.

"That's wise," Frederick said with a thoughtful nod. Bobby chuckled. Frederick apparently missed the irony of his own comment. Liz looked at him, confused. No one elaborated. He added, "You wanted a puppy when you were little."

Annabeth smirked. "I was five, Dad."

"You were adamant too. I almost gave in until we found out about the twins." She nodded, apparently having nothing to say to this. Frederick meant only that getting a puppy when they were expecting two new babies wouldn't have been a good idea, but I knew her thoughts had gone elsewhere. She didn't need to say anything for me to know that.

Once the twins had come into the picture, the things Annabeth wanted and needed as a child had no longer been much of a priority to her father. Things were better and all was long forgiven now, but she still bore the scars of her hard upbringing. No amount of time or forgiveness would ever fully heal them.

"Did you ever get a dog?" Nicky piped up.

"No," Theresa answered. Carly looked distraught at that.

"Not for lack of trying though," said Matthew. Bobby grinned.

"So we're never gonna get a dog?" Carly asked sadly.

Annabeth sighed and cast an all-encompassing glare around the table at her family for bringing it up. "I don't know, Carly. Not right now."

"That's better than not at all," Logan spoke up hopefully.

"And that's as good as you're gonna get," she told him, "So drop it, okay?"

Liz, who had watched the entire exchange in rapt enthusiasm, chuckled and leaned back in her chair. She looked at Matthew, seated next to her. "I love your family."

* * *

"Survived the in-laws', I see," Leo grinned two days later when we arrived at Camp Jupiter's mess hall, where the celebratory feast was taking place. The boys were already gone, having run off with various friends. Carly was a table away, showing Emily Zhang the wildflowers she'd found next to the Caldecott Tunnel.

"We did," I grinned back, hugging Piper.

"And everyone who needs to be is still none-the-wiser?" Rachel asked, one arm still wrapped around Annabeth in greeting.

"I think so," I said.

Annabeth glanced at me and then smirked. "For now."

* * *

 **So it was kind of weird writing Matthew and Bobby as fully grown adults, as I've only ever written them as kids or teenagers. Still, it's a fun dynamic to write. And hopefully Frederick didn't seem OOC. I was trying for that unintentional obliviousness he seemed to have in the books without making him out to be a total idiot.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and I promise to have the next chapter posted sooner than I did this one!**


	5. Times Like These

**Hi guys! Here's another update. I don't care about the Super Bowl, so I finished a chapter for you instead! :)**

 **Also, for those of you who aren't super sure of the minor characters from CME (I get them confused myself sometimes), Izzie (Isabella) and Caleb are Piper and Jason's kids, Emily and Tommy are Frank and Hazel's, and Esperanza is Leo and Calypso's daughter. They're all mentioned briefly in here. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Do I have to go to school today?" Nicholas whined, sitting unhappily on the end of his bed and obviously unwilling to go closer than that to getting ready without further persuasion.

I sighed from the doorway, still half-asleep myself despite the cold shower I'd forced myself to endure a few minutes ago. It had been a rough night. "Yes," I told him.

"Why?" he demanded not rudely, flinging himself down across the mattress. He was going through a bit of a dramatic stage.

"Because you have to. I'm required to make you. It's the law."

"But Carly's not going," he tried weakly. Even he knew that card wasn't going to win him anything.

"Carly has a stomach bug and was up all night. If you'd like to start throwing up, you're welcome to stay home with her, but if not, you're going to school. Now get up and get yourself ready." He was walking a thin line now and he knew it. Wisely, rather than say another word, Nick rolled dejectedly from his bed and moved toward his dresser. Satisfied that he was making actual progress now, I turned away and left him to it.

School was difficult for Nicholas. Logan was a straight-A student and if he didn't love it, he certainly didn't _mind_ school, and Carly wasn't doing too badly with it herself so far either. Nicky, however, struggled and his issues with it didn't seem to be getting any better. I knew that and I sympathized with him. School hadn't exactly been my favorite place when I was his age either. He knew that and I tried to be reasonable, but I was still obligated to make him go regularly whether he liked it or not.

As I walked toward the stairs, Carly's bedroom door opened and Annabeth stepped out, closing it gently behind her. I met her eyes. "She's asleep," she informed me quietly.

I nodded, glad to hear it, "She still have a fever?"

She nodded. "It's not too bad right now though. I'd give her something for it but I doubt she'd keep it down." I sighed and nodded. "Are you okay to take both boys to school?" she asked. "We can still call your mom."

I shook my head. "It's fine. It gives me a little time with Nicky before I have to leave him." I watched her for another second. "You look exhausted," I noted.

"So do you."

I shrugged dismissively. "Maybe you should go sleep for few hours."

She snorted. "I'm fine. I have to work today too."

"Yeah. I know."

"Okay. Can you go make sure Logan's getting ready? I'm going to shower."

"Sure."

"Thanks." She pecked my cheek and walked past me, disappearing into our bedroom at the end of the hall.

Logan was already dressed and groomed when I stuck my head in his room. He stood at his desk, his back to me, stuffing homework and books into his backpack. "Almost ready, Champ?" I asked.

He turned around. "Yeah. Nicky's coming too today, right?"

"Yeah. He's getting ready. Did you brush your teeth?"

"Um, maybe."

I snorted. "Make sure you change that answer to yes before we leave."

"Okay," he grinned.

Nicky was leaving his room when I left Logan. "Almost ready?" I asked. He nodded unenthusiastically, turning toward the bathroom. "Hey," I stopped him. He looked at me with gray eyes. "Come here," I said, arm outstretched. He stepped toward me and I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, hugging him. "I love you, okay?"

He nodded into me. "Love you too," he mumbled.

"Okay," I said, letting go, "Finish getting ready and then come eat breakfast." He nodded and headed toward the bathroom once more.

"Dad," Logan said, walking from his own bedroom now, "Can you make me scrambled eggs?"

I glanced at the watch I wore on my left wrist. "Sure," I determined, "If you hurry up and finish getting ready."

Ten minutes later, both boys were seated at the table and I was serving each of them a pile of eggs. Annabeth walked into the kitchen, wet hair hanging loose around her shoulders. "Carly's up again," she informed me, placing a plastic cup of water down on the counter.

"Did she throw up again?" I asked, mildly concerned. This was some stomach bug.

"She would have," Annabeth said, "She doesn't really have anything left in her _to_ throw up. She's getting dehydrated." She looked at the boys, who were watching the exchange in worry. "You both feel okay, right?" They nodded.

She sighed, "Okay," and looked back at me, "She won't drink anything."

I sighed. "Let me try." I grabbed the cup off the counter.

"Don't you get sick," she warned me as I turned toward the doorway.

"I'll be fine." I turned to the boys. "Finish eating and make sure all your stuff's together. We're leaving in twenty minutes."

"'Kay," Logan managed around a mouthful of food while Nicky nodded.

Carly was in bed, looking flushed and miserable, playing halfheartedly with the tablet Leo monster-proofed for the kids a few years back. There were tear tracks on her sweaty face. "Hey, Peanut," I said, walking in, "Feeling any better?"

She shook her head. "My tummy hurts."

"I know," I said sympathetically. I leaned forward and felt her forehead. She was pretty warm. Annabeth was right about the fever. "Listen," I said, "I know you don't want to, but think you can drink a little water for me?" She shook her head. "Please, Carly? Just a few sips. It will help."

"I don't want to," she whimpered.

I sighed and sat down at the end of her bed. "I know. But if you don't, you can get even sicker and you don't want that, do you?" She shook her head, her green eyes bright. "C'mon," I held up the cup, "Just a few sips. For me." Carly looked at the cup unmoving for a few seconds and then weakly moved to sit up. I leaned forward to help her and she diligently accepted a few gulps of water. "Good job," I told her, setting the remnants on the side table. "Thank you."

"Are Logan and Nicky sick too?" she asked miserably.

"No, it's just you, honey. But I'm going to bring them to school in a few minutes and then you and Mommy will be here together all day."

"What about you?"

"I have to go to work." She looked unhappy about this. I changed the subject. "Do you want to stay here in bed? I can take you downstairs and put a movie on for you if you want." She perked up just a little at that and gave a tiny nod. "Downstairs?" I asked. She nodded again. "Okay," I said, standing up, "Let's go." I pulled the blanket away from her. She grimaced at the loss of it in her fevered state.

"Can you carry me?" she asked.

I sighed lightly. "Yeah, I can. How do you feel? Are you going to throw up again?" She considered for a second and then shook her head. "Okay. Come on then." I scooped her up off the mattress, grabbed the blanket off the foot of her bed, and left to carry her to the living room.

When Carly was settled on the couch and I'd turned the TV on for her, Annabeth came in with a pot in hand. She set it on the cushions next to our daughter. "Just in case," she told her. Carly nodded, unhappy but resigned.

"Okay, Peanut," I said, "I'll see you later, okay? Feel better."

"Bye, Daddy."

"I'll be right back," Annabeth told her and followed me out of the living room. "You better not get sick," she said flippantly, "I don't need two miserable kids to take care of."

"Oh _thanks_ ," I replied, leaning into the kitchen doorway and informing the boys it was time to go.

"Anytime." Logan and Nicholas walked past us, heading obediently toward the door.

"You stay healthy too," I told Annabeth, pecking her lips, "See you later."

* * *

If there was anything I appreciated about living outside the city, it was the lack of traffic. We were about thirty minutes outside of Manhattan and while there was still a healthy amount of people on the road in the morning, it was nothing compared to what I was unfortunately used to. Having grown up in the city, I had an endless appreciation for the fact that I could drive five miles to Oak Grove Junior High in ten minutes instead of thirty. I still drove into Manhattan for work, but it was near the outskirts so usually it wasn't too bad.

Logan spent the drive to his school regaling us with the details of the project he and his friends, Jarrod and Will, were working on for the science fair next month. They were studying whether different fabric softeners affect the flammability of clothing. It was a question Leo probably could have answered for them easily, but that would have ruined the fun and Logan had learned to do his own laundry in preparation for the experiment, which had Annabeth happy.

He'd definitely inherited her genes, as I certainly hadn't been taking part in any science fairs when I was in eighth grade.

That's not to say I wasn't proud.

"Jarrod's mom gave us a bunch of his brother's old T-shirts, and they're all made of cotton so we can use them for the test," he said excitedly. "We're going to work on it more this weekend."

"Cool," I said, pulling into Oak Grove's parking lot, "Sounds like it's really coming together."

"It is," he confirmed, gathering his things as I pulled up to the student entrance.

"Have a good day," I told him.

"Okay. Bye, Dad. Bye, Nick."

"See you later," I said.

"Bye," Nicky mumbled.

I glanced at my younger son in the rearview mirror as Logan closed the car door and started toward the building. Nicky stared glumly at his hands in his lap.

"You okay, Nicky?" I asked.

Yeah," he answered quietly. I didn't believe him for a second, and a moment later when he sniffled, I pulled into an empty parking spot, put the car in park, and turned around to face him. "Nicholas," I said, making use of his full name, "Talk to me. What's the matter?"

He hesitated for a second and then murmured, "Logan's good at school."

In my surprise, I could only manage, "What?"

He looked up now and met my eyes, one of the tears he'd obviously been trying to prevent falling tracing its way down his face now. "Logan's good at school," he repeated, "He's smart and gets good grades, and he's got smart friends to do science fair projects with."

"Yeah," I said slowly, waiting for further elaboration, "He does."

"And I don't," he continued, "I want to be smart like him and I try even though some of my teachers don't think I do. But I'm just not good at it and…" He looked down again and spoke even quieter than before. "They're mean to me."

I stared at my son in surprise. "Who is?" I asked.

"The other kids," he whispered, fully crying now, "Cause Ms. Jones called on me to answer a question on the board and I-I couldn't answer it because I couldn't _read_ it. And now everybody thinks I'm stupid and they… make fun of me."

My heart sank as he spoke. This was the first time I was hearing of any of this and it had been a long time since I'd felt so helpless.

When I didn't respond immediately, Nicky, mistaking my silence, continued on, "But I'm not! I'm not stupid. I mean, I don't try to be. It's my dyslexia! I can't read!"

"I know," I said softly, but he was still talking.

"It gets all jumbled and doesn't make sense, and it hurts my head."

"I know," I said again, slightly louder. "Nicky," I said, preventing him from continuing, _"I know."_

He looked at me, shaking as he cried. "I don't know what to do," he said.

I sighed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged. "Because… I don't know. I didn't think it would do any good."

"Nicky, if kids at school are bullying you, they need to stop."

"I know…" he muttered and then paused, staring at the floor, "Why am I the only one with dyslexia? Logan and Carly don't have it and neither does Izzie, or Caleb, or Emily, or _anybody_!"

"That's not true," I assured him, "Esperanza does and so does Tommy." I paused, meeting his eyes, "Mom and I do. And out of all our friends, Uncle Frank is the only one who doesn't." Nicky was silent. "And you know what?"

"What?" he asked halfheartedly.

"I got bullied in school too."

He sniffed. "You did?"

"Oh yeah," I said, "All the time. For all kinds of things."

"What happened?"

"Well, I let it bother me a lot before I found out I was a half-blood. It was hard having ADHD and dyslexia without knowing why. Back then, I just thought they were normal issues."

"But they weren't."

"No, they weren't. And before I learned the truth, I thought they were the worst problems I'd ever have to deal with. But then I learned what I was and why I was the way I was and the bullying didn't matter so much anymore."

"Cause you had quests and wars to worry about."

"Yeah. But I also realized that I was part of something way bigger than any of the kids bullying me would ever even _know_ about, and it didn't bother me so much anymore." Nicky considered that. "Listen to me," I said intently, "You're dyslexic because your brain is programmed for Ancient Greek. And ADHD can be the difference between living and dying in a monster attack or worse. You're part of two worlds instead of one and you have to deal with the bad parts of both of them. So I don't care what those kids tell you; there is _nothing_ wrong with the way you are. I sleep better at night knowing you are this way. And you know as well as I do that just because you can't read English and take tests as well as your brother can doesn't mean he is any smarter than you are. You're just smart in different ways. So I don't want you to listen to those kids, okay?"

"Kay," he whispered.

I watched him for another second and then turned, opened my door, stepped out, and opened his. I wrapped my arms around him and he buried his face in my shoulder. "It'll be okay," I murmured, "I promise." He nodded against me, and after another few seconds, I let him go. "I know it's hard to deal with now but you will eventually learn how to manage the dyslexia. It gets easier."

"Okay," he said again.

"Okay," I said, "Do you want me to speak to your teacher?"

Nicky thought about it for few seconds. "No," he decided, "Not yet."

"Are you sure?" He nodded. "Okay, but if it keeps up you need to tell me and we're going to do something about it."

He nodded again. "Are you gonna tell Mom?"

I smiled. "Yes. Or you can. But she should know."

"Okay."

"I love you, okay?"

"I know. I love you too, Dad."

"Are you gonna be okay? Can I take you to school?"

"Okay. Let's go."

* * *

I'd been at work for a little over an hour when I got the phone call.

"Hello?"

"Percy," Annabeth said. She sounded odd, and I knew why at her next words. "Its Carly."

"What's wrong?" I asked, an anxious knot suddenly settling itself in my throat.

"She's burning up. The fever won't go down at all and she's in agony. I don't think this is a stomach bug—I know, baby. I know. It's okay," she added, obviously speaking to Carly, who I could hear crying in the background. "Are you at the aquarium?"

"No, heading back there. One of my guys needed help in the field."

"Okay, well you need to come as soon as you can. I'm taking her to the emergency room."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more. :)**


	6. Just Sleep

**Hey, guys! The follow-up to last chapter is here! I'm so glad you all are liking this story so much. I've truly enjoyed getting back into writing adult Percy and Annabeth and your support is so appreciated!  
**

* * *

It took me about thirty minutes to get to the hospital from where I worked. This was good time for late morning in the city, but in my concern it might as well have been multiple hours.

When I got there, the nurse manning the E.R.'s front desk directed me to exam room twelve, where she said Carly and Annabeth were. I thanked her and rushed quickly inside. It wasn't difficult to find the right room, as Annabeth was standing just outside it, her arms crossed anxiously across her chest as she listened to a doctor speaking urgently to her. I hurried to them and stopped beside her.

The doctor, who was a few inches shorter than Annabeth and had straight brown hair tied up in a ponytail, faltered when I approached. "Who are you?" she asked not unkindly. Her nametag identified her as Dr. Heather Greene.

Annabeth, who looked slightly more at ease at my arrival, answered for me. "He's my husband; Carly's dad."

"Percy Jackson," I added, "What's going on?"

"I was just telling your wife that we got your daughter's lab results back." She looked between us. "The appendix contains bacteria that is dangerous to other parts of the body. Carly's has ruptured and is leaking its contents into her abdomen. We've given her medication for the pain but it's a dangerous situation and we need to take her into surgery as soon as possible."

"Oh my gods," I breathed, surprised. It definitely _wasn't_ a stomach bug.

"With your consent," Dr. Greene continued, "I'd like to prep her and get her up to the O.R. before her condition gets worse."

Annabeth was nodding before she finished speaking. "Of course," she answered now.

"Whatever you need to do," I said.

The doctor nodded. "I'll send someone in to get her started and I'll get the paperwork together for you to sign." We nodded and thanked her, and with a small, sympathetic smile, she turned and left us.

"Oh my gods," Annabeth said, exhaling sharply.

"Hey," I said, turning her to face me, "It's okay. She'll be okay."

She didn't look entirely convinced but she nodded. "I need to call your mom," she said. I nodded. "You should go see Carly."

"Okay." I kissed her forehead. She met my eyes and then headed down the hall, digging her cell phone out of her pocket. I remained where I was for an extra second and took a deep breath before walking into exam room twelve.

Carly was sprawled out on the bed in a hospital gown with an IV sticking out of her arm. Her skin was pale, tinted a sickly color, and her green eyes were glassy but bright against her pallor. She looked extremely lethargic. She turned her head to look at me in the doorway and managed a small smile. "Daddy."

"Hey, Peanut," I said, moving toward her. I stopped at her bedside and bent to kiss her forehead. She was still warm.

"Where were you?" she asked tiredly.

"I was at work, honey. I'm sorry. I didn't know you were going to have to come here."

"I don't like it here," she replied, tears forming in her eyes now.

"Hey," I said, sitting down next to her, "I know. It's okay. It's scary but the doctors here are going to make you all better, okay?"

"How?"

"Well, in a few minutes, they're going to come and take you up to a place called an operating room and they're going to put you to sleep. And when you wake up, you'll be all better." She still looked unsure. "It'll be okay," I told her. Her scared expression caused me pain that was almost physical. "I promise."

She sniffed and eventually nodded a little. "Where's Mommy?"

"She's talking to Grandma on the phone. She'll be right back."

She grabbed my hand with her small one and held on tightly. "Don't leave," she said.

"I won't. I'm right here."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

Annabeth walked in then and was followed almost instantly by a small group of nurses armed with medical supplies. One of them held a clipboard. "I have the consent form," she said, looking between us, "One of you needs to sign it before we can take her to surgery."

"I'll do it," Annabeth said, reaching for it.

Another nurse was at Carly's side now, hanging another IV bag and arranging a series of instruments on a tray. She had butterflies on her scrub top. My daughter eyed her fearfully. I stood up to allow her room to work. "Hi, Carly," she said, "My name's Jackie. I have to put this stuff into the wire in your arm and then we're just going to move you to another bed and take you upstairs for a little nap, okay?" Carly eyed her uncertainly and the looked at me. I nodded, trying to look encouraging despite the weight that had settled in my chest where my heart normally was. It must have worked because Carly looked back to Jackie and nodded. The nurse smiled and set to work and Annabeth, finished with the paperwork, came to stand beside me.

As Jackie had said, another stretcher had been brought to the room and Carly, once she was outfitted with a blue surgical cap, was helped carefully to her feet and led to it. I lifted her up and settled her carefully onto it. She kept firm hold of my hand in the midst of everything going on.

Dr. Greene returned then, outfitted for surgery, with another doctor whom she introduced as Dr. Tillman, the surgeon who would be taking lead in the O.R. He was a pleasant guy, if not the most social, but he seemed more than capable as he ran us briefly through the procedure.

Carly panicked a little once they began wheeling her from the room, but calmed down once she saw that Annabeth and I were still with her. This made me nervous for the point where we wouldn't be able to go with her anymore, but I decided I couldn't worry about it until I had to. I stood on one side of her and Annabeth on the other, each of us holding her hand as we went.

We reached the outside of the surgical area far too soon and were told we couldn't go with them any further. The doctors and nurses stopped the stretcher in the hallway for a moment. Carly was crying again. "No," she said frantically, "Stay. Stay with me!"

"It's okay, baby," Annabeth said to her, trying so hard herself to be strong, "We're going to be right here the whole time. You'll be away from us for a few minutes and you'll got to sleep, and when you wake up, we'll be with you again."

"No," Carly protested, shaking her head against her pillow, "Mommy, no."

"Carly, listen," she said, "You have to let the doctors take you, okay? They can help you. They'll make you better."

The six-year old was still crying. "It's just a nap, Peanut," I told her, "Just a little nap and when you wake up you'll feel better. And Mommy and me, we'll be with you, okay? You have to be brave. Can you do that?"

"But I want you to stay," she argued.

"I know," I said, "But we'll be right on the other side of this door. The whole time. You'll see us as soon as you wake up."

Carly still looked unhappy but she thought about that for a second. "Promise?" she asked weakly.

"I promise," I told her, "Mommy too." Annabeth, biting her lip in what I knew was a valiant effort to keep it together in front of our daughter, nodded. "Let the doctors take you, okay?"

There were still tears in her eyes, but Carly nodded and though she kept hold of our hands right up until the stretcher began moving again, she allowed herself to be wheeled through the doors and us to be left on the other side of them.

The second the doors closed behind the group, Annabeth turned and buried her face in my shoulder, shaking with the effort to hold back her tears. I wrapped my arms tightly around her. "It's okay," I murmured, "It's okay. She'll be fine."

"She needed surgery," she said into the fabric of my shirt, "I thought it was a stomach bug. I thought she would get better on her own and needed _surgery_!"

"Annabeth, you didn't know."

"But I should have. I'm her mom. I'm supposed to know the difference between a stomach bug and _Appendicitis_!"

I shushed her and held her to me. "No, you aren't," I said gently, "This isn't your fault. You had no way of knowing."

"I should have," she insisted, though the fight had gone from her. In that moment I thought I might have been the only thing holding her up.

"No, you shouldn't've. It's okay." She didn't say anything more but stayed where she was for another minute. She may have been Annabeth Jackson, daughter of Athena and savior of Olympus but she was not strong all the time, nor was I. And in those moments, moments like this, we drew strength from one another. It was one of the things I loved most about being with her.

After another few seconds, she pulled away a little and took a deep breath before stepping back the rest of the way. She met my eyes. "You okay?" I asked. She nodded. I offered my hand and she took it.

We turned to see a nurse standing a few feet away from us, holding a folder and looking uncomfortable. "I'm sorry," she said when we saw her. I felt Annabeth tense a little beside me, surely embarrassed at having been caught in such a weak moment by a stranger. I squeezed her hand while the nurse continued. "Um, because she needed emergency surgery, your daughter was never formally admitted. I'll need to go over a few things with one of you before we can get a room ready for her and you'll need to wait in the waiting room, but, um, if you need a minute…"

"It's okay," I told her, glancing briefly at Annabeth, "I can do that."

"Okay, great. Um, if you'd follow me, I can take you somewhere to wait for the surgery to finish."

"Thank you," I said and led Annabeth by the hand in following after her. She led us to a mostly empty waiting room and Annabeth sat down without a word while I went with the nurse to a reception desk to handle the admission stuff.

When I returned, Annabeth had her phone in hand, apparently texting someone. I sat down next to her and she answered my unspoken question. "Your mom says she can get the boys from school and bring them here."

"She doesn't have to do that."

"I told her that but you know how she is. She wants to."

"Okay. I guess that's fine then. Tell her thanks." She finished typing and returned her phone to her pocket. She leaned back then, resting her head against the wall behind us. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, watching her.

She nodded and looked at me. "Yeah. Sorry about back there. It's been a rough morning. I just… lost it."

"I know."

She laughed humorlessly. "My mother would be appalled at what having kids has done to me."

"You're still the toughest girl I know," I assured her, mimicking her pose. She gave a small smile. We sat in comfortable silence for a minute then until I remembered the conversation I'd had with Nicky that morning. I eyed her for a moment, debating whether I should share that information now or later.

She noticed me looking and met my eyes, quirking an eyebrow. "What?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I'm trying to decide whether I should give you more bad news now or later.

She sat forward, concerned. "What bad news?"

* * *

"He didn't want you to talk to his teacher?" Annabeth asked, speaking quietly to avoid being overheard by the other families seated nearby.

I shook my head. "I think he wants to handle it himself for now. He seemed better after I talked to him but I told him if it keeps up he needs to say something."

She nodded, looking thoughtful. "Poor Nicky," she sighed, "He doesn't believe them, does he?"

"The kids?" She nodded. "I don't know. I hope not."

She considered that. "Do you think we should say something to his teacher anyway?"

I sighed. "I don't know. Part of me wants to but I also know it won't necessarily make things any better. I was in Nick's shoes once and it was probably better that the adults didn't get involved. It probably would only have encouraged them."

Annabeth sighed now. "The bullying stopped for you eventually, right? I don't remember it ever happening when I was with you at Goode."

I smirked. "Of course not. I was the star of the swim team by then. They couldn't possibly make fun of me." I sobered then. "It stopped after I got into high school. I learned how to manage better in school by then and I was in a good place. But even when it was still going on after my first summer at camp, it didn't bother me so much anymore. Learning what I was helped a lot to put things in perspective."

"And you told Nicky that."

I nodded. "He'll learn to manage the dyslexia and school won't be as bad. If I could do it, he certainly can. And in the meantime, he just has to remember why he is the way he is." I shrugged. "I think he just needed a reminder."

"He was better when you dropped him off at school?" she asked.

"He seemed to be." I took her hand. "He asked us not to say anything yet and I think we should honor that for right now. See what happens." Annabeth nodded but looked unhappy. "But you don't agree," I noticed.

"No, you're right," she said, "If he wants us to wait, we should. And he has a point; I just hate that it means we can't do anything."

"Yeah," I sighed, "I know."

"I wish I'd known how hard having kids was before I had them," she said wistfully, leaning into me.

"Would it have changed your mind?" I asked, wrapping my arm around her reflexively.

"No," she said simply, "It just would've been nice to know."

* * *

It was maybe an hour later that Dr. Greene entered the waiting room and approached us. We stood up in response and she stopped before us. "The surgery went well," she began, "The appendix was leaking for a while and it took some time to remove all the contents, but Dr. Tillman was able to remove the whole thing and so far the infection seems to have been kept to a minimum, which is very good news."

"So, she's going to be okay," I deduced.

"The next twenty-four hours are critical," the doctor explained, "She's still very much at risk for infection, but so far she's doing well. She's being moved to recovery as we speak and she should be waking up soon."

"Can we see her?" Annabeth asked.

Dr. Greene smiled. "Of course. Follow me."

She led us out of the waiting room and down an adjoining hallway, which was very quiet and a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the emergency room downstairs. Carly was in a room at the end of the hall. She looked very small, lying unconscious in the hospital bed and hooked up to multiple wires. I stopped with Dr. Greene at the foot of the bed. Annabeth continued to Carly's side and stroked her brown hair.

"She has a drain in her incision," Dr. Greene explained, "It will need to be there for the next day or two to prevent infection, and Carly will need to be here at least another two days after its removed but she really did do very well and hopefully the hard part is over."

"Thank you," I said.

"Of course. I'll leave you alone now. She should be awake any minute, but she will be tired for a while. If you need anything, just hit the call button on her bed."

We nodded and with a last smile, the doctor left and we were alone with Carly, who was just beginning to stir. Noticing this, I crossed the small room to stand next to Annabeth. Her eyelids fluttered open after a minute or so and she looked around groggily before her green eyes fell on us. I smiled. "Hey."

"How do you feel?" Annabeth asked gently, taking her hand.

Carly thought about that. "Weird," was her answer.

I laughed softly. "That's the medicine they gave you," Annabeth explained, smiling. "What about your stomach? Do you still feel sick?" Carly shook her head. "Good," Annabeth said, looking relieved.

"Where's Logan and Nicky?" Carly asked.

"They're still in school," I answered her, "But Grandma can bring them here later if you want." Carly, her eyes already drooping again, nodded in reply.

"Go back to sleep, honey," Annabeth told her, brushing Carly's hair back from her face. "We'll be here when you wake up."

Carly apparently didn't need convincing. She gave half a nod and then closed her eyes again. A second later, her breathing evened out and she was asleep again. I stood there for an extra few seconds, watching her. Already, her color seemed better than it had before surgery. It had been scary for a little while there but she really did seem out of the woods now. Thank the gods.

"Come on," Annabeth said quietly, taking my hand and tugging me backwards toward the two chairs lining the far wall of the room. I allowed her to lead me away from the bed and sat down beside her. She leaned into me and rested her head on my shoulder, much more relaxed now. It wasn't hard to tell why.

The room was quiet and Annabeth fell asleep against me a few minutes later. I stayed awake, looking between the sleeping faces of my girls, grateful for the both of them and the first truly peaceful moment I'd had all day.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!  
**


	7. Highs and Lows

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

I wish I could say things got better for Nicky over the coming months, but if it wasn't one thing it was another. The preteen years were hard. We knew that already, and being a half-blood, even a second-generation legacy, only increased their difficulty.

Still, the differences between our children's methods of coping with them were astounding at times.

* * *

"Nicky, you have to say something," Annabeth pleaded from beside him, seated at the kitchen table.

"No," he insisted, "It's fine."

"If it was fine, you wouldn't be this upset by it," she reasoned.

"It's fine," Nicky repeated, "I don't want to say anything."

"Well do you want me to?"

"No!"

"Nicholas, you can't let this keep happening. It's been two months. We agreed we wouldn't say anything right away, but it obviously isn't getting better. It isn't fair—"

"Dad," Nicky pleaded now, looking across the table at me for help.

I sighed, "Don't interrupt your mother. And she's right, Nicky. You wanted to deal with it yourself and see what happened and you did, but those kids are getting _you_ in trouble now and it's affecting your work. I know you're not okay with that."

"What do you think will happen if we tell someone?" Annabeth asked him quietly.

"What do _you_ think will?" Nicky shouted, "They won't stop! They'll just know that I ratted them out and it'll get worse! That's what happened to Jeffery last year!" Jeffery was a fellow student of his at Lincoln Elementary. He had special needs and Nicky had mentioned more than once that he was not liked by the other kids. We hadn't heard much more than that though. He continued, "His mom called the school and they got in trouble and then Ashton and his dumb friends only bullied him worse! They still do! And I stood up for him one time. One time! And now they treat me just as bad!" I met Annabeth's eyes at this new information. I could tell from her expression that this was news to her as well. Nicky was still shouting and tears looked imminent now. "It was so _stupid_! I should've just kept my big mouth shut! I—"

His words cut off when Annabeth moved and wrapped her arms around him. Nicky melted into his mom's embrace and started crying in earnest. "Shh," she said, "It's okay. Nicky, listen to me. What you did was _not_ stupid, standing up for Jeffrey. It was brave and good and I'm proud of you." I nodded in agreement, though Nicky had his face buried in her shirt. She held him for another minute before he pulled back and she let him go. He sat back in his seat and stared at his hands in his lap.

Logan had wandered over now and appeared in the doorway. He looked in at the scene in mild concern. I looked at him and shook my head. Nicky wouldn't appreciate the audience of his brother right now. Disappointed but understanding, Logan left obediently.

Nicky, still sniffling, spoke again. "I'll work harder. I won't let them get me in trouble anymore, I promise. Just, please don't tell Ms. Reynolds. They don't hit me or anything. Its just stuff they say. I'll ignore it, like with the Ares cabin at camp. I ignore them all the time. I'll try harder. Please?" He looked up now, between us, his gray eyes pleading.

I sighed and met Annabeth's eyes again. I could read her thoughts in them. "Fine," she told him, "But we can't get anymore notes home."

"And if they try to hit you, you do what you need to without fighting and you _tell_ someone," I added, feeling it was a valid and important point, "Okay?"

He nodded, apparently okay with those terms. "Can I go now?"

Annabeth sighed. "Yes, you can go."

He stood up quickly and made haste in exiting, maybe scared that we would change our minds and call him back again.

Annabeth turned her stare on me once he had gone. "He might be a little _too_ much like you."

* * *

I was in the kitchen washing the last of the dinner dishes one Thursday in February when Nicky walked in and crossed to me. Annabeth had taken Carly shoe shopping and I was home with the boys. "Dad," he asked.

"What's up, champ?" I answered, rinsing a plate. He seemed nervous.

"Um, do I have to go to camp with Logan this weekend?"

The question brought me up short. I dropped the plate back in the sink and looked at him. "Do you not want to?" I asked. The idea was such a strange one. Nothing could have kept me from camp when I was a kid, and the boys only got to go about one weekend per month during the school year. As far as I knew, Nicky loved it as much as Logan did—as much as I always had.

"Not really," he admitted, looking uncomfortable.

I stared at him for a second, unsure of how to react to this. I settled on "Why?"

He shrugged, studying the floor. "I dunno…"

"What do you mean you don't know? Did something happen?"

He sighed. "No. I don't know. I'm just… not good at it."

"Not good at what?"

"At… being a legacy…"

The dishes forgotten, I turned off the faucet and turned to face him. "What does that mean?" I asked, not curtly but just trying to understand.

"Like… I don't know. I guess not being a legacy really, but being… your son." He mumbled the last words. I narrowed my eyes in concern but he went on before I could say anything. "Everybody's always so impressed when they find out that you're my dad and stuff and they always ask me what its like and if I'm as good as you were, but I'm not. I'm not good at camp stuff. Logan is. He's really good at training and sparring, and everyone always wants him on their team for Capture the Flag, and they think he's so cool because he can control water like you can. But I can't. I can't do any of that."

I studied him for a few seconds after he finished speaking, surprised that he felt that way and also slightly annoyed that Annabeth was never around to help me deal with things like this. She was much better at it than I was.

But she was out and I was on my own here.

"You can use a sword," I said, "You're good at it too. Chiron says you're one of the best swordsmen at camp, a lot better than Logan is. That's not nothing. And the water power is a nice trick but it doesn't make you any less powerful if you don't have it. The majority of kids at camp don't have powers like that, do they?" He shook his head.

"I think you could be great at Capture the Flag if you tried, Nicky. Logan's good at it because he knows he's good and he makes sure everyone else does too. You're not any less talented a fighter than he is; you're just quiet and you're okay with sitting back and letting other people shine. And that's not a bad thing. It's actually a really good thing, just ask your mom.

"You're not your brother and you're not me. And you don't have to be. I don't want you to. You just have to find the things you're good at and not worry about the ones you're not, okay?"

He gave a halfhearted nod and spoke then. "He is better then me though."

"Maybe," I allowed, "But he's been going to camp longer than you have. He started when he was younger than you because he had to find out the truth earlier than you did. I'm sorry if you wish we'd told you sooner but we were only trying to protect you."

"I know."

I sighed. "You don't have to go to camp this weekend if you don't want to but you do have to go for the summer. You need to learn how to fight and protect yourself. That's not up for negotiation."

"Okay. Thanks, Dad," Nicky said and then, with his piece said, he turned and left the kitchen again. I stared after him, conflicted. The poor kid was barely eleven years old. His life shouldn't have been this difficult.

* * *

"Dad, is Nicky okay?" Logan asked, looking up from his task of washing the windshield of Annabeth's car. She'd needed it cleaned for a while now, so in taking advantage of the first warm Saturday we'd had in a while, I'd decided to do it for her. I'd recruited Logan to help, because while it was well above freezing, in the middle of April, it still wasn't exactly swimsuit weather and he was the only other one in the family who could stay dry and fairly warm in the process.

I looked over at him now, overtop the car's roof, and met his eyes. He continued, "'Cause he doesn't really seem like it."

I sighed. "He's having a hard time with some stuff."

"School, right? With those kids? And his grades?" I gave him a look. "What?" he asked, "It's true. I'm not trying to be mean."

"Yeah," I conceded, "And some other stuff."

He considered that, then said, "Carly asked me the other day why he was sad. I didn't know what to tell her… But she's right. He does seem sad." He hesitated, "And also sometimes I think he's mad at me and I don't know why. I haven't done anything to him."

I sighed. "He's not mad at you," I answered, "He's… mad at himself."

"But I don't help, do I? Because I don't have dyslexia and stuff. He compares himself to me."

"Well," I said, "A little, yeah. He's more frustrated with himself though. He's not as confident as you are, and he's easily just as smart but he's got the problems with reading and school that you don't have, so his grades don't reflect it like yours do."

He nodded, looking thoughtful. "You're confident in your abilities," I continued, "That makes a big difference. But he'll be okay. He'll get there."

Logan nodded and then met my eyes again. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked, "To help him?"

"You can be there for him. Be his big brother _and_ his friend. And hey, the next time you play Capture the Flag at camp, do me a favor and give Nicky an important job whether he wants it or not. He's a good fighter, he just doesn't know it yet."

Logan smiled widely and nodded.

* * *

"I don't understand how you _do_ that," Christine, one of my coworkers, said, standing with her hands on her hips and watching as I rubbed the belly of an otter we'd rescued from a particularly filthy part of the Hudson a few weeks earlier. Tilly, as we'd named her—Carly's suggestion—had been pretty sick when we'd found her, but a few decent meals and as many rounds of antibiotics had her almost ready to be released again. Christine continued now, "Every animal we get adores you. I swear you speak sea creature."

I smiled at her words. "What can I say?" I replied, grinning, while Tilly shifted, rolling over and swimming up again so I could pet her head now, "It's a gift."

Christine snorted and picked up the bucket of fish at her feet before turning toward the seal enclosure to feed them their lunch. I turned back to Tilly, "She has no idea," I whispered to her. The otter's responding laughter sounded in my mind.

My cell phone rang in my pocket then and I took my hand back. She wasn't all that happy about it. "Sorry," I told the otter. Drying my hand off on my pants, I dug the phone out of my pocket and checked the ID before putting it to my ear. It was Annabeth.

"Hey," I answered.

"Hi," she replied seriously.

"What's up?" I asked, matching her tone.

"We have a problem."

I turned away from Tilly's enclosure and stared walking toward the offices. "We do?"

"Yeah. I just got a call from the school nurse at Lincoln. Nicky was sent to see her after another student _punched_ him in the face."

"Oh my gods," I said, brought up short, "Is he okay?"

"Yeah. Apparently it was bleeding a lot so she's sending him home."

"Di immortales," I murmured. "Did she say who did it?"

"No, just that the principal's dealing with it, but it's not hard to guess."

"I know." I sighed. "I thought it was getting better."

"Apparently not."

"Do you want me to head over there?"

"No. I've got it. But I'm not leaving there until something is done about this so depending on how long that takes, your mom might have to grab Logan and Carly."

"Okay. Keep me posted. I'll see you later."

"I will. See you." The call ended and I put the phone back in my pocket, still standing where I'd stopped in surprise. I stayed there for another second and took a long, deep breath before continued walking, shaking my head. There was never a dull moment, and it looked like things with Nick's bullying situation were coming to a head.

* * *

"Nicky, what happened?" I asked, standing before my youngest son, who sat on the couch sulking with just the faintest of red marks over his nose and right cheekbone. His eyes trailed after Carly, who had run in to greet me when I'd walked in and now left to go finish her homework at the kitchen table.

When she was gone, he sighed, embarrassed. "I didn't know he was gonna hit me," he said, his eyes on the floor.

"Nicholas," I said, "Look at me." He did. "You are allowed to protect yourself if someone tries to physically hurt you, do you hear me?"

"It wasn't like that!" he countered, "Honest! I didn't want to fight or anything but I know how to block a punch. We learn it in combat at camp, but he…" he looked down again, embarrassed again, "Didn't look like that was what he was doing."

"What do you mean?"

"His feet," Nicky said, looking up again, "When you throw a punch, you're supposed to start with your feet shoulder-width apart and your dominant foot a little behind the other, and then you step into it so you can put your whole body into the strike! He didn't do that! He just… flung his arm out…" He looked up and the complete innocence of his dubious expression was quite funny, "It wasn't a good punch. It was actually really bad. It didn't even hurt really. It just bled. I didn't even need ambrosia!" I couldn't take it anymore. I started laughing. "It's not funny, Dad!" he cried, scandalized.

"No," I said, sobering, "I'm not laughing at you. I mean, not like that. You just…" I smiled. "You're so well trained you can't recognize an untrained hit coming at you." He was not amused. I chuckled, "Sorry, buddy. It's a good thing. Just… next time, block anyway. Even if you're not sure."

"There won't _be_ a next time," Annabeth said now, walking into the room and crossing to me. I kissed her cheek in greeting. "Aston's been suspended indefinitely," she continued, "He's facing possible expulsion." She made a face. "This isn't the first time he's done this apparently."

"No," Nicky agreed bitterly, "Sam said I should have hit him back." I could see Annabeth's sense warring with her protectiveness at that. The warrior in her clearly wanted him to fight back, but she couldn't endorse that as a responsible mother. Nicky saved her from having to reply when he continued. "But it's like you said that time, Dad. I'm part of something way bigger than Ashton will ever understand, so I have to act like it." He shrugged simply. "So I didn't."

Annabeth's answering smile was a proud one. "Good thing too," I said, "Ashton would have fared a lot worse than you did."

Nicky gave a laugh. "True."

And he continued smiling, looking lighter than I'd seen him in a while, and I was glad that he at least had one less thing to worry about now.

He still had things he had to deal with, but this was a step in a good direction. And things could only go up from here.

* * *

 **I know this was different than what I've normally done for this chapter, but I have a ton of ideas for further on in the story and I wanted to speed things along a bit. Hopefully you enjoyed it.**

 **The majority of this story so far has been focused on normal mortal issues, but I do have plans for demigodly things too for those of you wondering. They will be coming soon. Stay tuned!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	8. Take Just a Little Time

**Hello! Sorry for the slightly longer wait for this chapter. Things at school have been nuts this past week and they're probably going to be pretty busy until spring break the week after next. So I'm not sure how much writing I'll have time to do before then, but I will try to have at least one more chapter posted before that happens.**

 **Anyway, this update was super fun to write. Some Percabeth fluff for you! I know I promised demigodish stuff soon, but I don't think you'll be too disappointed that I went with this first instead. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Why do I need a babysitter?" Logan demanded, standing unhappily by the front door.

"You don't," I replied, slipping one shoe on while handing Carly's to her, "You're not going to be babysat; you're going because your grandparents haven't seen you in a while."

"We could take Nicky and Carly and leave you here alone," Annabeth suggested from the stairs, following our other son down them, "But you'll miss the dinner Grandma's making for you and I haven't been to the store yet this week so there isn't anything for you to eat here."

"No," Logan said quickly, "I want to go. I just don't want to be babysat." At thirteen, he'd been on a weird independence streak lately. We allowed it for most things, as he was a good kid and was still a far cry from the rebellious antics of other thirteen year olds I'd seen.

"Neither do I," Nicky piped up from the bottom step, looking indignant.

"Me neither!" Carly added, not with any real conviction, just following after her brothers.

Annabeth sighed, stepping past Nicky and grabbing her purse and the car keys from the hook by the door, "No one is being babysat," she said, "Grandma and Grandpa want to have you over for dinner because they love you and want to spend time with you. And you always have fun there. And since we'll be in the city, Dad and I are going out for dinner ourselves because _we_ love each other and never get to do that. So everyone needs to stop complaining and get themselves out this door and in the car, please. Come on."

All three knew better than to argue when their mother took on that tone, and they complied easily after that.

* * *

"Thank you for doing this," I told my mom, standing in the living room of her and Paul's small apartment.

"Of course, sweetie," she smiled, "You know we don't mind. And it's been a while since you two got any real time alone."

I snorted. "You can say that again."

She smiled knowingly. "This is as much a treat for us as it is for you. Go have fun. Don't you dare rush back."

I smiled. "Okay."

Annabeth walked in then, joining us. She'd been in the kitchen with Paul and the kids. She stopped next to me, smiling at my mom. The sundress she wore fit her flawlessly and she looked amazing. "Ready to go?" she asked me.

"Definitely." My mom smiled wider.

She walked us to the door. It was such a familiar thing. "Have fun, you two," she said, standing in the open doorway as we stepped out into the hallway, "And take your time," she added, "Seriously. It's Friday night. If you're back here before nine I will not let you in."

"Understood," I grinned while Annabeth laughed beside me.

When we got back to the car, she tossed me the keys. "You're driving," she said. I grinned.

I got in behind the wheel but didn't turn the engine on immediately. She looked at me from the passenger seat. "Do you hear that?" I asked quietly.

She narrowed her eyes slightly in confusion, but knew from my tone that there wasn't trouble. "What?"

"Silence," I said.

She smiled. "It's beautiful."

"When was the last time we got to do anything by ourselves?"

She shook her head. "Months ago." She looked at me again, smirking. "Percy, I don't think you realize how excited I am just to have dinner alone."

I grinned. "And we have until _at least_ nine," I said emphatically.

She snorted. "Let's see what time we get out of the restaurant, Seaweed Brain. You may just get lucky."

* * *

As teenagers, Annabeth and I had often ate at a small Italian restaurant in the Upper East Side. It was one of those family-owned places, the kind that gets passed down from generation to generation, so I wasn't all that surprised to find it was still open, though it had been years since we last ate there.

We did tonight though, and I was personally glad we did. The food was exceptional, just like I remembered it. It wasn't overly crowded either, which I appreciated and found slightly surprising for a Friday night.

It had been a while since we'd been out like this, just the two of us. It wasn't that we didn't have my parents happily at our beck and call to watch the kids for us. We did, and they were more than willing. We were just so busy, between work for Annabeth and I, and school for the kids, baseball practice for Logan, trips to camp a few times a month for both boys, and the general business of everyday life, date nights had become an unfortunate rarity.

Not that I didn't enjoy my job and love our kids with everything in me, but it was nice to get away alone with Annabeth every once in a while, and even nicer when it entailed more than just an occasional outing to the grocery store.

Conversation was light throughout dinner, but I preferred it that way. Life so often revolved around pressing issues lately with Nicky's issues at school and camp, various stresses at work, and the monster attacks that still sprang up occasionally, always at inconvenient times. Just to name a few. I genuinely enjoyed just talking about nothing with her. She was my wife and yet it was still so rare. It was sad.

Annabeth had been with an architectural firm in the city since shortly before we'd been married, and she loved it. She was a senior partner now and had more say than ever with the projects she got to work on. She had always been fantastic at her work, but now people knew it. It kept her busy, but she thrived under the pressure.

She spoke now about the latest project she'd taken on, a multi-level art gallery that would be built just north of the city, and glowed with excitement as she did. The client adored the traditional style of Greek architecture and wanted his gallery to reflect that. As such, it would include many intricate arches and columns. Annabeth, of course, shared his love for the design and seemed over the moon to have the chance to work on a style that was, according to her, being used less and less nowadays.

"It's going to be beautiful," she said now, smiling the way she did when she'd talked about the details of the latest temple on Olympus after the Titan War when she was Head Architect. It was her architecture smile, and it was so uniquely hers. It always made me smile too. "I mean, it's little more than blueprints at this point, but it'll get there."

"If anyone can do it, you can," I replied.

She smiled. "And ground is being broken for the Pederson Building on Tuesday. Thank gods."

"Is that the client who kept changing his mind about the building plans?"

She nodded. "He kept going back and forth between Georgian and Colonial styles. I drew up six different design plans in as many weeks."

I smirked. "So he has until Tuesday to change it again."

"Oh, he's not changing it again," she said vehemently, "I'm going to be conveniently away from my phone if he does." I laughed.

She smiled, but sighed a moment later as a thought hit her. 'When did we become such boring people?" she inquired, sounding somewhere between surprised and appalled, "This is the first real date we've had in months and we're talking about work." She made a face.

I smiled. "I like being boring people. It makes for a nice change." She smirked. "But if you want," I said, leaning forward, grinning and lowering my voice appropriately, "We can talk about the empousa I ran into on Wednesday."

She groaned but smiled. "Gods, no." Despite her words, she added, shaking her head, "I still can't believe the vendetta they have against you."

"I know. I feel like I kill one every year. You'd think they'd get sick of dying eventually."

Annabeth smiled. "I'm more worried your luck with them will run out eventually."

"Nah," I said with an easy grin, "I'm good at what I do."

"Percy, I'm serious. It's a real possibility. I've seen monsters get the better of you more than once. And we don't have the same luxury they do when it comes to dying."

"I don't know that I would call their situation a luxury."

"You know what I mean," she said, and I knew she was completely serious now, all traces of lightheartedness gone, even with the quiet tones the topic necessitated.

I sighed. "Yeah, I do. But what choice do I have? I either fight and hope for the best or don't fight and die for sure. That's not much of an option."

She made a face. "I know that. Obviously you have to keep killing them. I just worry about it sometimes."

"Why?"

"Because you're not sixteen anymore."

I studied her for a second, debating how to respond next. It still surprised me at times when she acted like this. Tartarus had brought about enough vulnerability for a lifetime, but it wasn't until after years of marriage, when the hubris in her finally diminished in the shadow of her family, that she broached conversations like this one. Conversations centered not around fear of something never meant to be survived, but the idea that she may not always be able capable of handling everything that was.

I decided things had been serious long enough for one date. "Are you calling me old?" I asked quietly, hiding a smirk.

She blinked, and then exhaled in a surprised laugh. "No."

"Good," I grinned, "Because you _are_ older than me."

Now she laughed earnestly. "You had to go _there_ , didn't you?"

"Are you mad?" I asked easily. I already knew the answer.

She tried not to smile, but failed valiantly. "No."

"Then I regret nothing," I grinned. She shook her head, still smiling. Our waiter returned then to take our dessert plates. I asked for the check. When he was gone, I looked back to Annabeth. I reached across the table and took her hand. "I'll fine, alright? I've survived this long. If I can live to see thirty-eight, the rest can't be too difficult, can it?"

"It's still dangerous."

"Sure it is, but compared to when I was a teenager? And you still get attacked enough yourself. Don't think that's not terrifying for me too. But believe me, I wish I wasn't so famous. Maybe the monsters would get bored and move on."

She sighed. "I know, I'm being ridiculous. I just…" She sighed again and squeezed my hand, "It scares me sometimes how much you love all of us. I've seen how stupid is can make you. You know I'm glad you fell in with me, but it would be way worse if you died now. The kids…" She paused. "I don't think I know how to live in a world without you, Percy."

"How long have you felt like this?" I asked, eyeing her, curious and surprised.

She sighed again, shaking her head. "I had a dream the other night. It was nothing, really. But you died protecting us and I haven't been able to get the image out of my head."

I sighed lightly now myself. "I'm sorry, babe. It wasn't real…"

"I know it wasn't real," she half-snapped in reply, sounding more like herself, "It just made me realize how scared I am of the possibility… I'm being stupid."

"You're not being stupid," I told her, "Just a little emotional…" I said the last word slowly, a thought hitting me. It wasn't that Annabeth never got like this, just that the majority of times had been when she was… I narrowed my eyes now, studying her. "You don't have something you want to tell me, do you?"

She just stared at me for a second in confusion before she caught on to what I was saying. " _No_ ," she said fervently, releasing my hand and leaning back in her chair, "Gods, no. But thanks, Seaweed Brain, that makes me feel _so_ much better."

I laughed, rising my hands in surrender. "Just making sure," I defended.

The waiter returned then and left us with the check. Annabeth just shook her head, fighting the smile forcing itself onto her face until he was gone again. "I hate you," she said after he left.

I grinned. "No, you don't."

She gave in completely then and smiled. "No, I don't. By some miracle. It's tempting sometimes though."

"Gee, thanks," I answered, taking enough money from my wallet to cover the bill and the tip. I placed it inside the check holder. "Come on," I said, standing up. "Let's get out of here."

She stood herself and we started toward the exit. I glanced down at the watch-shield on my left wrist. "It's not even eight yet," I noticed, stepping with her outside, "We have a lot of time before we're allowed back to get the kids."

"That's okay," she replied, slipping her hand into mine, "I think we can find _something_ to do."

"You're right," I replied, grinning, "We _might_ even be able to catch a movie." Annabeth smirked but said nothing as we continued toward the car.

* * *

"We should do that more often," Annabeth said, walking next to me a while later as we climbed the stairs up to my parents' apartment.

"What, ditch the kids and go out? I agree completely." She smiled and nodded.

We climbed up two more steps before she spoke again. "I love you. I think I forget just how much sometimes."

"Oh, thanks. That's reassuring," I said.

"No," she laughed, stopping on the landing, "We're just always going a hundred miles an hour."

"I know," I said, still standing where we'd stopped at the top of the stairs. Taking advantage of this fact, I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her. "I love you too," I added when we pulled apart, "For the record."

She laughed against me. She'd wrapped her arms around my neck during the kiss and had yet to remove them. I was really enjoying the moment, so I opted not to let it end just yet and kissed her again, long and hard.

It was at least a minute before she broke away. "Percy, we're in a stairwell."

"That's okay, there's no one here."

She smirked but was otherwise unfazed. "We're not teenagers anymore."

"That's not the first time you've told me that tonight," I pointed out.

She rolled her eyes, smiling wider, but she did bring her lips quickly to mine one more time before stepping back. "Come on," she said, "We have to go get the kids."

"Well, when you put it that way," I drawled in exaggerated resignation, following her through the door separating the stairwell from the second floor of my parents' apartment building.

* * *

My mom answered the door with a smile. "How was dinner?" she asked, stepping back and allowing us inside.

"Great," said Annabeth, "Thanks for taking them."

"Oh, absolutely. Anytime. You know that."

"Thanks, Mom," I said, pecking her cheek. She hummed in acknowledgement.

"How were they?" Annabeth asked.

"Angelic as always. But don't worry, they can't fool me. I know they're terrors at home." I laughed.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Carly's voice called now as she rounded the corner from the living room and ran toward us, "You're back!"

She jumped the last few inches and I caught her. It was a well-practiced move between us. "Hey, Peanut," I said, holding her, "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah! Grandma made cookies and she let us decorate them!"

"Awesome!" I said animatedly, "Did you save me some?"

She laughed and said, "Yes!" in a tone that implied that should have been obvious.

The boys were immersed in a game of checkers in the living room, and insisted we could not leave until one of them won. When Logan did so, Nicky demanded a rematch, and that turned into the best two out of three when he won that one. As a result, we ended up staying for a while.

Carly fell asleep in my lap as the third and final round started up, but I was in no rush to go. The sounds of Annabeth's and my mom's conversation floated out from the kitchen and Paul, on the couch beside Carly and me, watched the boys' game in mild interest.

It was peaceful, and while it had been amazing to get some time alone with my wife tonight, I enjoyed the time there with the rest of my family as well. They were all incredibly important to me.

And it was the weekend. We were in no rush.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!  
**


	9. Return Visitor

**Hey everyone! Again, sorry for the wait. I was hoping Spring Break this week would give me some time to write. Instead it turned into one of the busiest weeks I've had in a while. But this update is really long and I enjoyed writing it with the little time I did have, so I hope you enjoy. :)**

* * *

It's nice to know other people's kids do crazy things too.

Frank and Hazel were regaling us with the story of six-year old Sammy's attempt, a few weeks prior, at juggling the oranges Hazel brought home from the grocery store. Apparently he'd been caught before the produce could be severely damaged, but it still made for a funny story.

We sat in an outdoor café, chatting over lunch with them and Nico. Logan and Nicky were at camp for the weekend, and Carly was with Emily and Sammy at the son of Hades' house, under the capable care of Will Solace.

The place was crowded, but not overwhelmingly so. We'd gotten a table with a nice view of the street, a few blocks away from the ocean. It was early June, just a few weeks before school would be letting out for the year, and the weather was comfortably warm. The sea breeze blew through regularly, ruffling the napkins on the table and occasionally blowing Annabeth's hair just enough for it to brush against my arm, which was distracting in the best way.

The Zhangs were in New York for a few days and were staying with Nico and Will in Long Island, about half an hour from where we lived. We'd made the trip for the day to see them, but had jumped at the opportunity for a few hours of kid-free conversation. Nico had volunteered Will to babysit. The latter had been less than thrilled, but hadn't been able to refuse. And anyway, I was pretty sure he didn't really mind very much.

"He sounds like he lives up to his namesake," Annabeth said from beside me as our laughter died down a bit.

"Gods," said Hazel, smiling, "You have no idea. Emily was so easy compared to him."

"That's little boys for you," I said, "When Logan and Nick were little, we couldn't leave them alone for a minute. They got their hands on baby powder once and decided to have a war with it."

Annabeth shook her head at the memory and laughed. "Gods, it got _everywhere_. I was cleaning powder up for weeks."

"Oh, no!" Hazel laughed. And it was funny now. At the time, it had been a really huge mess.

"They were white head to toe," I said.

Nico sat back in his chair, shaking his head. "You know, sometimes I wonder if we made the right choice, not ever adopting. And then I talk to you guys and I'm really happy with our choices." It was something the two had considered at one time, but that ultimately got pushed aside as they both worked demanding jobs and had other immediate priorities.

"What?" I said, "You don't want to dedicate eighteen years of your life to creatures that take up all your time, eat all your food, wreck your house, and spend all your money?"

"And cover you in bodily excrement pretty often," added Frank, smirking.

"Not really, no," Nico laughed.

"That's too bad," he replied, "That happens a lot."

"Come on, guys. They're not that bad," Annabeth put in, "They do love you. Sometimes. When they're really young."

"Until you tell them you won't buy them something in the store," Hazel said, "Then they forget they ever did."

The son of Hades laughed. "You guys aren't really succeeding in changing my mind here."

"And then there's the sibling rivalry," I put in, "Gods, they're seriously experts at that. They love each other one minute and hate each other the next. And I swear they do it just to annoy…" From my spot facing the street, I caught sight of an unfortunately familiar figure and lost my train of thought completely.

It was a figure I hadn't seen in more than twenty-five years, but then it wasn't one I would easily forget, though why it would show up now, after all this time, I had no idea.

She looked exactly the same, right down to her stringy black hair and huge denim dress with it's matching hat. It didn't look any better on her now than it had when I was twelve. The small not-Chihuahua was leashed at her side.

For maybe half a second, I actually hoped it was just a coincidence, that maybe she wasn't here for us. Maybe we just _happened_ to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and maybe she didn't care. Maybe she didn't even know we were here. Camp wasn't too far away, after all.

The instant I met her eyes though I knew that was wishful thinking, and quite an emphasis on wishful at that. She was looking right at us. More specifically, she was looking right at me.

Big surprise.

Her lips curled into a cruel smile when I caught her gaze, and then she started making her way toward us. Not in any real rush, and she was fairly far away, but it wouldn't take her _that_ long to reach our table.

Maybe a second had passed, which wouldn't have been long, except that we were a table full of half-bloods who had more than our fair share of experience with this sort of thing. "Percy?" Hazel started to ask while Nico, next to her, started to turn to follow my eyes.

"Don't look," I said, "Monster. A bad one. We need to go." I was careful not to say the name out of habit, though it was probably too little too late at this point. Still. "Ten o'clock," I said to Annabeth, who was seated next to me and the only one of us already facing the same direction I was.

She nodded, understanding if not remembering like I was.

"We need to p—" We were all on our feet already when Frank began and broke off as I tossed a handful of bills on the table, more than enough to cover our meals. We might have been going to save the surrounding area from immediate danger, but we were still law-abiding citizens. And I was sadly far too used to this sort of thing.

"You can pay me back later," I said, "Nico, you know the area better. We should get somewhere less public." There were a lot of people around and the last thing I wanted was for innocent mortals to get hurt.

He already seemed to be thinking as much and led the way. "What are we looking at?" he asked, casting glances behind us even as he led our group in the opposite direction. The monster was gaining now, moving very swiftly considering her girth.

"The fat woman in the denim," I answered. He nodded recognition. "That's Echidna."

Hazel gasped quietly. "You mean—?"

"Yeah," Annabeth answered her, having produced a dagger from somewhere on her person.

Frank was wide-eyed, looking between us. "You've fought _her_?"

"Percy has," she said simply. I glanced behind us to find Echidna and the Chimera were no longer in sight behind us, which did not do much to ease my mind.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Nico muttered, turning right at an intersection and leading us into an unused lot littered with old beer cans and fliers. "How's this?"

"It will do nicely, Nico DiAngelo," answered a voice that was not mine from the other side of the small clearing. Echidna was suddenly there and definitely had not been a second ago. My experience with her had previously been limited to a small space, but apparently she could move quickly when she wanted to. That was worth noting. She continued, "Though I would have loved crushing a few mortals along with you, they don't concern me. In fact, most of you don't either. It's Percy Jackson I want." Surprise. "And since I'm feeling rather generous, I might just let the rest of you go now."

"Fat chance," Annabeth said from beside me, prepared, I knew, to go in with me, disguise herself if and when necessary, and go in for the kill while I distracted from the front. It was our default fighting arrangement, and it stood the test of time. The others fell in line beside us; Nico to my right and Hazel and Frank to Annabeth's left. None of them looked inclined to go anywhere either.

"Fair enough," the mother of all monsters said reasonably, "My son and I will kill you all then."

"Your son?" Nico asked from beside me.

"Yes, Chimera. My son," Echidna replied causally, gesturing to the Chihuahua still at her side. She held the end of its red leash in her hand. It growled at us.

"Oh," Nico replied lamely, "Chimera. Of course. My bad."

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"Why, you, Percy Jackson. I want you."

"Yeah, I kind of gathered that. Why?"

"Because you have been quite the menace for me since I left you in St. Louis. I should never have let you get away then and all the children of mine that you've killed since have not been shy about letting me know as much. And yet, as they have all disappointed me in their attempts at killing you, I have come to do it myself. I cannot listen to them whine from that wretched abyss anymore."

"Right," I said slowly, "Well, here's the thing. This is the first chance I've had to see these guys," I gestured in Frank and Hazel's direction, "in months. And I really don't appreciate you coming and interrupting our lunch like this, so could you just do whatever it is you think you came to do and let us move on with our day?"

Echidna gave an awful smile. "You are more confident since we last met. It's almost endearing of you."

"Yeah, I know. I'm adorable," I said, "I've also faced things a lot worse than you."

"Indeed, you have. But I think your confidence might exceed your ability. You are past your prime, after all. You're nothing but a mortal hero and you faced my father-in-law long ago and barely escaped with your life then."

I might have stopped her and asked just who her father-in-law was that I faced so long ago, but I didn't have to. Annabeth anticipated this and discretely whispered " _Him,_ " in my ear. And I knew from the emphasis she put on the pronoun just which 'him' she was referring to.

Echidna was the daughter-in-law of Tartarus. Sure, why not?

"Okay, first of all," I said, "It's one thing when my wife tells me I'm getting old, but it's definitely _not_ okay for you to do it. And second, if you're so sure you can beat me, what are you waiting for? I had plans for today and none of them included being repeatedly insulted by a blue-jean blimp." I uncapped Riptide and held the sword's familiar grip in my hand. "Are you gonna attack sometime or what?"

"Okay, Percy Jackson," Echidna said, dropping the end of the Chimera's red leash and letting it fall to the dirt at her feet, "Have it your way. Sonny, take care of the others. I want them out of my way."

Just like that, the Chimera went from a twelve-inch lapdog to a twelve-foot monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and a diamondback rattlesnake for a tail, complete with blood-caked mane and corrosive venom dripping from the snake's mouth. It lunged at Frank and Hazel, both of whom sprung into action. I would have helped, except I had Echidna to worry about.

Back in the Gateway Arch all those years ago, I never actually got around to fighting Echidna herself. I never got past the Chimera. It was the first monster I encountered since fighting the Minotaur on my way into camp the first time and it had not ended well for me.

At the time, I was completely untrained and, looking back on it, too inexperienced even to head into the city to get Mr. D a double cheeseburger, never mind to travel across the country in search of a weapon of mass destruction that belonged to the king of a bunch of gods I knew next to nothing about. But then, it wasn't exactly the last time I'd be going unprepared into something huge.

Anyway, the point is I'd never actually seen Echidna in her true form, and now I wished I never would. She was awful.

From the neck up, she was almost the same fat, ugly lady, cellulite veins and all, though her eyes were slits now, like a reptile's, and were almost florescent in their greenness. The rest of her body was huge and snake-like, easily over six feet tall, with scales for skin that matched the ones along her arms that she normally kept hidden beneath the sleeves of her dress. Her clawed hands looked sharp as razors and I was willing to bet good money that the yellow liquid dripping from her newly acquired fangs was horribly poisonous.

She started toward me, slithering on her snake-tail, which was actually really weird to watch. Annabeth and I locked eyes briefly and she nodded and, stepping away, pulled her Yankees Cap from her back pocket. That thing was seriously a lifesaver. Literally. Echidna all but ignored her, which I figured she would probably live to regret pretty quickly.

The Chimera was giving Frank and Hazel a run for their money, spewing fire from one end and poison from the other. Nico had moved in to help them when it got a lucky shot in and missed Hazel so narrowly it left the ends of her hair singed. He glanced over at me now and I nodded. He should stay where he was. I had Annabeth.

It had been maybe two seconds. The mother of all monsters was almost on top of me. She sent a torrent of venom my way, but I was ready. I sidestepped in time. She countered quickly, swiping out with her claws, but I evaded easily enough. I swung Riptide toward her outstretched limb and she was forced to retract it or lose it.

She hissed impressively and I got the feeling she was still only playing. With that in mind, I went on the offensive, charging at her with my blade before me. She seemed surprised at the sudden attack, but evaded effortlessly. "Stupid hero," she said, "You stand no chance. No mortal has killed me in millennia." She jerked, whipping her massive snake tail at me. With its scales like titanium armor, it was probably five hundred pounds of monster body part flying toward me. I dodged and rolled underneath. I wondered idly where Annabeth was. There'd been no sign of her yet.

"Yeah?" I said, rolling to my feet on the other side of her. She swiveled quickly and gracelessly to face me again. "It sounds like you're overdue then."

She must have found that comment offensive, because she gave a hissing growl and made another grab at me. I spun back and she missed me, while also leaving herself momentarily open. Ducking under her exposed arm, I drove Riptide up into the flesh of her armpit. She was smart though and dodged enough that she received only a minor flesh wound. It sure made her angry though. She screamed in rage and pain and sent poison flying everywhere. I ducked out of the way but felt pinpricks of pain against the back of my neck as it made contact with my skin.

I faced her again to find the monster advancing fast. Behind her, Hazel and Nico seemed to be making progress with the Chimera. Frank was nowhere in sight, but I didn't have time to dwell on it long. He'd probably transformed himself into something small and deadly. I hurried to raise Riptide again, but with just feet to spare before she was on top of me, Echidna stopped abruptly and jerked away. There was a deep gash in the lower portion of her snake tail that had not been there before. Courtesy of Annabeth, surely.

Echidna knew as much too. "Daughter of Athena!" She hissed unpleasantly, "I will deal with you next."

I had no idea where Annabeth was or what she was doing, but her distraction had bought me some time. Echidna started toward me again, fast, but I was ready. She shot another volley of poison spit my way, which I maneuvered away from, and, feigning right but moving left, I managed a solid blow with the sword just below what I assumed was her rib cage. She wasn't very happy, but I was ready for the poison shower she sent my way in response. She was smarter this time though and swung out with her razor blade-tipped claws at the same time, and in my attempt to avoid the corrosive saliva, I just about danced into her reach. It was from nothing but honed reflex that I didn't wind up shish-kebobed. As it was, I came away with a rather nasty gash in my side. The cry of pain escaped my lips against my will, but I lashed out with Riptide all the same and she was forced back a few steps.

"Stop this, Percy Jackson," Echidna said angrily, "Surrender now and I will kill you quickly."

"I'll pass," I said. From behind me, a cry sounded. I didn't dare look away from my current opponent, but I saw a dark-clad figure fall out of the corner of my eye. Hazel's answering cry confirmed it to be Nico.

My heart was in my throat. These monsters were here for me, and if Nico was hurt at their hand, it was my fault. Last I'd seen, they'd cornered the Chimera and while they hadn't appeared to be making much progress in the way of offense, they'd seemed to be holding their own. Apparently that had changed. But then, the Chimera was no small inconvenience.

Echidna's gruesome smile sent shivers of rage down my spine. I'd had enough. But before I got the chance to act on the thought, the snake woman gave a wild jerk, her expression contorted into one of hatred. Annabeth appeared in midair, her Yankees cap several feet away from her. Apparently she'd been flung from whatever foothold she'd managed to get on the monster, but her fall seemed controlled. "Stupid mortal!" the snake woman roared, "You will pay for your interference, you _insufferable_ hero!"

I was still prepared to move in with Riptide, even while I watched Annabeth in my peripheral vision. I just needed an opening, and even while Echidna was currently focused on my wife, she still kept her flank well-guarded.

Annabeth hit the ground and rolled gracefully to her feet, sticking the landing with her dagger still in her hand. She looked angry. The sounds of our friends' battle still raged behind us, though I thought the ratios of growls to yelps of pain might have been changing in their favor. I didn't dare look.

With Echidna's full gaze on her, Annabeth pulled back and threw her blade for all it was worth. The monster, of course, saw it coming and evaded it easily. "You missed!" she laughed mockingly, "Pathetic!"

"Did I?" Annabeth asked, her voice sweet and deathly calm even while storm clouds swirled in her gray eyes. The mother of all monsters actually stopped mid-chortle and glanced behind her, at her son, the Chimera, which was slowly turning to dust with my wife's dagger sunk hilt-deep into the base of its neck.

Echidna howled in fury and turned on Annabeth again. "How _dare_ you!" she screamed, " Annabeth Chase, you will pay dearly!" Even with everything happening, it was odd to hear her addressed that way, by her maiden name. It had been so long since I'd last heard it. But then, I guess married names mattered little to evil Greek monsters.

Echidna charged at her, claws outstretched and venom flying. "No!" Annabeth yelled to someone behind me, "Get Nico!" The monster was on her before she could get another word out, but Annabeth was too quick. She evaded the claws and poison and, mid stride, met my eyes.

Her meaning was plain. Our roles were reversed now. I wasn't the distraction anymore.

And sure enough, a second later, she darted in and danced out from another torrent of seriously acidic rain and Echidna, in her effort to catch her from behind with her massive tail, left her entire right flank vulnerable. My body brimming with energy, I took the opportunity immediately and ran in with Riptide.

Echidna realized what was happening a split second too late. She whirled around to face me again, but succeeded only in nearly slicing herself in half, as I'd already stabbed the blade deep into her abdomen.

She gave a final cry of agony and vanished quickly, a cloud of golden dust the only evidence she'd ever existed. It caught the ocean breeze and blew quickly away.

I gave Annabeth a once-over to ensure she wasn't hurt and then turned toward our friends, who were all alive and upright, though Nico had a nasty gash on his forehead that was slowly closing as he sipped Nectar from the canteen Frank often carried. The other two looked fine.

"What happened?" I asked, walking over.

The son of Hades shrugged. He looked dazed, but his eyes became more focused as the Nectar did its work. "I'm fine," he said, "Hit my head. It looks worse than it is."

"You were knocked unconscious!" Hazel protested from beside him.

"I'm fine," he repeated and then, at his sister's expression, amended, "Now." He glanced at me. "You're bleeding, by the way."

Only after he mentioned it did I remember the gash Echidna gave me in my side. Suddenly it really hurt. I raised my hand to the wound to find my shirt soaked with blood. "Oh, yeah," I said, glancing down.

I didn't need to see her face to know Annabeth was rolling her eyes at me. She held out a square of Ambrosia that she must have already been holding. I took it obediently and ate it. Almost immediately the pain subsided to a dull ache and the bleeding slowed. Water would have worked faster, but the godly food was still more than effective.

Annabeth stared resignedly at my ripped and bloody clothes. "We're going to have to stop and at least get you a new shirt before we get Carly."

"Wouldn't be the first time," I answered, mimicking her tone. I stared at her, waiting for her to meet my eyes. She did after a minute, and then looked quickly away, smiling even as she rolled her eyes. I grinned and then turned back to our friends, who finished returning weapons to their various sheaths. Hazel picked up the purse she'd abandoned on the ground. She fell into step next to Annabeth as we made our way from the dusty and unused lot.

"So," Frank said, "Do we want to know how you and the mother of monsters know each other?"

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 **So, in case you didn't figure it out, Emily and Sammy are Frank and Hazel's kids. :)  
**

 **Thank you so much for reading! Next update (hopefully) soon.**


	10. Full Circle

**Hey guys! Sorry again for the delay. Unfortunately until the semester ends I'm not sure how frequent updates will be. I will try to keep up as best as I can!**

 **This chapter relates back to Climbing Mt. Everest more than most of the other chapters so far. It can be read without having read CME, but I would highly recommend reading that story at some point too! Not much happens overall but I've tossing around this particular idea for a while now and I finally put it to words.**

 **Enjoy!**

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"New neighbors are moving in next door," I announced, closing the front door behind me. Annabeth stopped at the foot of the stairs, a basket of laundry on one hip. Summer had just started for the kids. The boys were heading off to camp in a few days and she'd enlisted everyone's help to clean the house up before they did.

"Did you talk to them?" she asked.

"No. There was no one outside when I was, just the moving truck in the driveway."

She hummed in acknowledgement, looking behind me out the front door's glass. "Think we should go over and introduce ourselves once they settle in?" she asked.

"That would probably be a good neighborly thing to do," I replied. The elderly couple who had previously lived across the street from us had moved in with their daughter a few months ago, and their house had been vacant until now.

Annabeth nodded, looking back at me now. She noticed the mail I held in one hand, my reason for having gone out in the first place. "Did the kids' report cards come?"

I flipped through the small stack of bills, advertisements, and junk mail until I found the three envelopes we'd been waiting on. The school district had started mailing report cards home a couple years ago. Apparently there had been issues with the way they'd previously done it, sending them home with the students. Logan in particular had been waiting on his for a few days. He was always overly zealous about his grades, even while he never brought home anything lower than an A-.

I handed them to her and, placing the laundry at her feet, she opened the first one and read over its contents.

"What's the damage?" I asked causally, coming to stand beside her.

"Straight A's for Logan," she answered, pride in her tone. "Again."

"Of course," I said, smiling.

She handed the paper to me to look over while she opened the next envelope. Some of his teachers had enclosed comments on the back, all along the lines of him being a great kid and a pleasure to have in class. I read through them and smiled.

Annabeth handed me the next sheet of folded paper. "Carly's," she said by way of explanation. I looked over this one too, at the three A's and two B's she'd received.

Logan's voice beat him around the corner then. "Mom, I finished the bathroom." He stopped when we came into sight and his attention immediately refocused. "Did report cards come?"

"Yup," I said, holding his out to him. "Good job."

"Yes!" he said.

Annabeth smiled at him. "Finish looking at that and then go help your brother dust in the living room."

"Okay."

She met my eyes over Logan's head then, the last report card, Nicky's, clutched in her hand. I raised my eyebrows, asking. Her expression was answer enough, but she handed the page over to me. Nicky had managed three C's and two B's, which was not at all bad compared to the previous year's grades, but would not make the kid overly excited.

Logan, satisfied with his assessment, handed his report card back to me and moved to obey his mother's wishes and help Nicky in the living room. She caught him as he passed, wrapped him in a one-armed hug, and planted a kiss to the top of his head. It was something my mom had often done to me growing up and it always brought a smile to my face to see my wife do it with our own children. Logan smiled and allowed it, and then continued toward the living room, leaving us alone.

Annabeth stepped closer to me and looked over Nicky's grades again over my shoulder. She sighed. "He won't be happy."

"He's getting better," I said, "He gets B's now."

"Yeah but he so badly wanted an A in history. The dyslexia is still a problem."

"He'll get there," I said and then smirked, "He's just too much like you."

She gave me a playful look, "Motivated?" she asked innocently.

I gave a laugh. "I was going to say too hard on himself."

She snorted and grabbed the laundry basket again before turning the corner and heading with it toward the laundry room. I followed her, stopping to drop the mail on the kitchen table to be dealt with later. Carly found me there. "Daddy," she said, walking into the room.

"What's up, Peanut?"

"The vacuum isn't working."

"What do you mean it's not working?" I asked, turning to face her.

"I was cleaning the floor for Mommy but then it made a loud noise and stopped working."

"Did you suck up something too big?"

"…No," she replied in a way that made me think she absolutely _had_. I raised my eyebrows. "I don't know," she amended.

I chuckled. "Show me," I said.

Five minutes later, I was on my hands and knees on the wood floor of the dining room, removing the bottom part of the vacuum to free the sock that Carly had somehow managed to unknowingly vacuum up and get stuck.

"I didn't see it," she insisted for the third time, even as I'd only asked once.

"I know," I said, pulling the sock out of the hose and putting the thing back together. "It's okay." I stood up, dusty sock in hand, "Just be more careful, okay? I don't want to buy another vacuum."

"Okay," she said, moving to finish her chore. I watched her began maneuvering the machine around the room again for a second, amused. I shook my head, smirking, and then left her to it.

"Here," I said, walking into the laundry room where Annabeth was pouring detergent into the machine. I held out the sock I'd rescued. It was one of the boy's. "Carly tried to vacuum this up."

She turned and looked at it, and then snorted, taking it from me and throwing it in with the load. "It's so nice having them home all day," she said sarcastically.

I laughed. "Well they are cleaning the house," I said, "And they're not complaining yet."

"Don't speak so soon," she replied with a smile, pressing start on the washing machine. "I need to get started on something for lunch soon though or they'll start rioting."

"I can throw some hot dogs on the grill," I suggested, "That's quick and relatively painless."

"That'll work," she said, "I think we have salad in the fridge too."

"Should I run that plan by the heathens?" I suggested, "Let them at least think they have an opinion?"

She laughed. "Works for me."

* * *

"How's it going in here?" I asked, walking into the living room where the boys had been dusting and organizing the bookshelf that lined one wall. Carly had joined them and currently it looked like all three of them had gotten a bit sidetracked. Nicholas held a large book in his hands but seemed to have forgotten it was there. He and Carly, who stood on Logan's other side, were looking at something in their older brother's hand. Logan looked puzzled. All three looked up at my words.

"Logan found a picture of one of us before we were born," Carly informed me.

"Well," the former said slowly, looking down at what I assumed was an ultrasound picture, "I'm not sure…"

"How do we know who it is?" Nicky asked.

"There's usually a date on it somewhere," I answered, stepping forward.

"Well, there is," Logan replied, "But… it's weird."

"Let me see," I said.

"Also, it doesn't look like a baby," Carly put in helpfully from beside him.

"That's just how babies look before they're born," Logan explained to her, handing the picture to me.

I took it and examined the image before squinting at the small print with the information about the appointment it came from. The source of Logan's confusion became clear pretty quickly once I found the date, almost a full two years before he was born. My heart jumped to my throat. "Where did you find this?" I asked.

"It fell out of this book when I took it down," Nicky supplied, gesturing to the text in his hands.

"Is it Logan?" Carly asked.

"No," I answered, aware that my voice sounded suddenly hollow, "It's not any of you."

It wasn't that we'd kept the baby we'd lost a secret from the kids as much as it had just never come up. Life was busy with the three of them and the miscarriage had happened so long ago. While the thought of the son or daughter I would never know did cross my mind every once in a while, we had a lot of other stuff going on and Annabeth and I had long since moved on. The kids had never had a reason to know before now and, in the heat of the moment, I had no idea what to tell them.

"But it has Mom's name on it," Nicky said.

"What has my name on it?" Annabeth asked, walking into the room. She stopped a few feet from me, looking expectant. "I thought you were getting opinions on lunch?"

"I was," I answered, "But then they found this." I handed her the old ultrasound picture. "Look at the date."

I knew the moment she saw it. Her expression shifted. There wasn't sorrow like there might once have been, but she looked pensive at the reminder of the first real dark time our marriage had seen. "Where did this come from?" she asked, looking up at us.

"It fell out of this book," Nicky answered her like he had me.

"Are we in trouble?" Logan asked warily, looking between us.

"No, Honey," Annabeth said, "Why would you be in trouble?"

"I dunno," he answered, "You're acting weird, like we did something wrong or something."

"We're just surprised," I told him.

"Why? What is that picture?"

"It's from the first time I was pregnant," she explained.

"With me…" Logan supplied slowly.

"No," she said, "Before you."

He looked astounded. His younger brother and sister watched the exchange in rapt silence. "What?"

"We were pregnant with a baby before you," Annabeth clarified.

"What happened?" Nicky put in.

"We lost it," she said, and then elaborated, glancing at Carly, "The baby died while it was still inside me."

The boys looked shocked. I wasn't sure how much of this Carly understood, but she looked appropriately sad so I thought maybe she was keeping up pretty well. "Was it a boy or a girl?" Nicky wanted to know.

"We don't know," Annabeth told him, "The baby was too little for us to know."

"So we would have had another sibling?" Logan asked, looking at her with wide eyes. She nodded solemnly. He looked thoughtful for a second and then breathed, "Wow." He held his hand out, asking silently for the photo again. Annabeth handed it to him and he and Nicholas examined it with renewed interest.

Carly, rather than join her brothers, came toward me. She was getting too big for it, but I picked her up anyway. She wrapped her arms around my neck like she had at two years old. "Daddy," she said softly, "Why did the baby die? Was it sick?"

"No, Peanut. It just happens sometimes." This was true, of course, though our case had not been so cut and dry. But then, I couldn't exactly tell my eight year old that the reason that unborn baby had died was because a spiteful goddess hadn't wanted it born. Maybe one day she could know that truth but definitely not today.

Annabeth took a deep breath and ran a hand through Carly's brown curls, meeting my eyes, before looking toward the boys. "Are you okay?" she asked them, "I know you guys weren't expecting that." Logan nodded, his eyes not leaving the picture. Nicky looked up and did the same. She sighed.

Silence reigned in the room for another minute. No one seemed quite sure how to break it. Finally, Logan looked up, handed the ultrasound photo back, and, surely remembering his mother's earlier words, said, "Um, were you supposed to be asking about lunch?" Knowing our oldest son, he saw the need for a subject change and took the opportunity.

"Yeah," I answered, complying, "Are you all okay with hot dogs?" Nicky and Carly nodded and Logan shrugged indifferently before nodding as well.

"Okay," Annabeth said, "You guys can finish up in here with the books and then be done. You've done a lot today. Thank you for helping." Both boys, nodding obediently, began piling the remaining books back on the newly cleaned shelf.

"What about me?" Carly asked as I set her back down on her feet.

"Do you want to help make lunch?" Annabeth asked her. The eight year old nodded. She smiled, "Go wash your hands then." Carly took off down the hall.

With a last glance at the boys, Annabeth left the room for the kitchen. I followed her. She stopped halfway there and glanced at the photo still in her hand. "Are you okay?" I asked, coming up behind her.

She glanced at me and then back down. "Yeah," she answered. She studied the photo for a few seconds and then looked at me again. "I mean, what Hera did will never be okay but we've moved on."

"But you still think about it."

"Sometimes," she replied, "But so do you."

I shrugged, not denying that. "It was a long time ago."

She nodded. "And we've had three beautiful kids since then."

I gave a small smile. "Yes, we have."

She smiled in reply. "I am curious as to how this ended up on that bookshelf though."

"The gods only know."

"Yeah," she said absently, looking at the image one last time. She slid it into her back pocket. "Come on," she said and started leading the way toward the kitchen once more. Carly found us as we walked in and informed us that she'd washed her hands like she'd been asked. Annabeth led her further inside and started giving her jobs to do ("Can you go in the refrigerator and find the lettuce?"). I started toward the back door to go heat up the grill but stopped and just watched them for a moment. And it struck me just how right she was.

Losing that first baby had seemed like the end of the world at the time and awakened a lot of worry and uncertainty about our future and the possibility that we'd ever have a family. But we had moved on and managed it anyway, and even on mundane mornings like this one where all we did was housework, it was true. The fact that we were all here at all really was beautiful.

The world had kept spinning even when it felt like it wouldn't, and everything had turned out pretty great in the end.

Which, after everything, as far as I was concerned, was only fair.

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 **Thank you for reading! As always, reviews are very welcome. I love hearing your thoughts!**

 **Also, if you have any ideas for a better title to this chapter, please let me know. I'm sitting in class as I'm posting this right now and can't concentrate enough to think of anything creative. Thanks!**


	11. Can't Catch a Break

**Hey guys! I know its literally been like a month since I last updated this story and believe me when I say I'm super sorry about that. The end of the semester literally buried me and these first few weeks of summer were busier than I expected. But I am free now and expect to have a lot more time to write. I plan to once again update regularly. :)**

 **This chapter is a bit on the shorter side, which bugs me especially since the wait was so long, but I like where it's going and I wanted it to end where it did. I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to review and let me know your thoughts!**

* * *

"So you're telling me you don't know what happened out there today?" Craig, my boss, concluded, speaking of the group of sturgeons my team had been assigned to rescue from a debris patch in the Hudson earlier in the afternoon. Little did he know the sturgeons had actually been a family of small sea monsters who'd been out for blood the second I'd set foot in the water. Taking them out had been difficult with the three guys I had with me, who did not know about said monsters or of the danger they'd been in.

It had been a small mercy from some god, somewhere, that the bodies had, for whatever reason, stayed behind as proof that they'd existed at all. Even more so that the monstrous parts had dissolved like normal. The remaining carcasses almost resembled large sturgeons and I guess the Mist took care of the rest.

"No, sir," I lied. Technically we were all in trouble, as, because we worked for an animal rescue and preservation program, winding up with four dead sea animals, which also happened to be endangered, as opposed to rescuing them was a rather serious blunder. But because I was field ops manager as well as team leader for this particular assignment, I was taking most of the heat. As was only fair.

Normally in situations like this, I was able to manipulate the Mist enough to get by, but in this case, there had just been too many witnesses and too much going on for that to be a feasible option. Which left me with Plan B: wing it.

"You have no idea why all four sturgeons, fish which don't generally bother anybody, suddenly and violently attacked you and no one else?"

"I don't," I answered, "The working theory is that they were poisoned somehow by the debris, maybe from leftover runoff from that old wallpaper plant nearby, and something about me set them off." That _last_ part, at least, was true. "But I couldn't tell you for sure."

"Well, are you doing anything to _get_ sure?" he demanded.

"Eli and Marsha took water and blood samples. We're waiting for tests still but I'm pretty sure it's a contained issue, whatever it is. There haven't been signs of abnormal behavior in any other schools in the area." Mostly because the other sturgeons in the area were, in fact, sturgeons and not Ancient Greek monsters.

Craig sighed, leaning back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alright," he said, "All I know is this looks bad for us. I don't understand how this happened."

"I don't either, sir."

He leveled his eyes at me. "I believe you only because you've been here so long and have an almost spotless record otherwise." After a brief pause, he added, "And because you're a good guy."

"Thank you," I said, "I appreciate it."

"Uh huh," Craig replied, unimpressed, and sighed again, sitting up. "Alright, go home to your family, Percy. We'll figure the rest of this out once those test results come in. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," I said, standing up, "Have a good night."

"You too."

Once safely back in the confines of my own office, I shut the door firmly and leaned against it for a second, feeling relief at the fact that my secret was still, in fact, a secret, and also annoyance at the unnecessary waste of time and resources, running expensive tests for contaminants that didn't exist.

* * *

"Hey," I said, leaning in the doorway of the home office, where Annabeth sat, a handful of contracts and blueprints scattered on the desktop before her.

"Hi," she said, looking up with a small smile, "How was work?"

I groaned. _"Spectacular._ Where are the kids?"

"Last time I checked, Logan was upstairs packing for tomorrow," she made a face at the fact that he'd waited until the day before the summer session at camp to do so, "And Carly was playing in the basement. Nicky's outside somewhere with Hannah."

I raised my eyebrows. "Again?"

Hannah lived next door, having moved in the week prior. Nicholas had met her a few days earlier while taking out the trash and the two became fast friends. Personally, I was glad. He'd always been somewhat lacking in the friends department and Hannah was very nice. Her parents too.

Ironically just a day younger than Nicky, Hannah was on the smaller side for her age, with light brown hair and bright hazel eyes. What she lacked in stature, she more than made up for in personality, outgoing and opinionated as she was. In many ways, she reminded me of Thalia, though she seemed more levelheaded and respectful, even at eleven. I liked her.

"Yeah," Annabeth said with a shrug, "They've been pretty inseparable. He's worried she'll meet other kids in the neighborhood while he's at camp this summer and forget about him."

I made a face at her comment. "Yeah," she replied, seeing it, and added, "He had a bit of a rough morning."

"What happened?" I asked, sitting down across from her.

She sighed and shook her head. "He's still put out about his report card. He was really hoping for better."

I copied her sigh. "He's so hard on himself."

"He deserves A's."

"He'll get there," I said, "I did."

She smirked. "You didn't manage _close_ to A's until your last few years of high school." Her smile widened, "And only because I… _tutored_ you."

I smiled now, remembering seventeen-year-old Annabeth's reward of one kiss per every ten completed math problems. "Yeah, well, he's more motivated than I was up until that point."

She smiled again and then sobered. "There were tears. He said he doesn't want to be a half-blood."

"I know how he feels," I said, sighing, thoughts of the afternoon's fiasco coming to mind, "He'll learn to manage it. We all do."

She sighed again, " I know." She met my eyes and changed the subject. "Everything okay with the work incident earlier?" I'd called her on the way back to the aquarium and explained, in mortal terms due to the companions with me in the company truck, what had happened with the monsters. She'd, of course, figured out all she needed to.

"For now," I answered, "It's still a work in progress."

"How's it look?"

I shrugged. "It'll be fine, I think. It's just one of those things."

She stood and crossed to my side of the desk, sitting uninvited on my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck. "Sounds like Nicky's not the only one wishing he wasn't what he is," she murmured.

"Depends on the day," I conceded, wrapping my arms around her waist, "But if I wasn't what I am, I never would have met you and the world probably wouldn't exist right now, so I guess I shouldn't complain."

"You're a little bit important." I laughed.

We sat there for a minute and when she sat up, I was in a far better mood. She walked back around the desk and started gathering up the paperwork there. "Do you have a lot of work to do tonight?" I asked.

"Nothing that can't wait," she said, piling it up neatly for the night, "I ordered pizza for dinner, by the way. It should be here soon. I didn't feel like cooking."

"Fine by me."

No sooner had the words left my mouth than the doorbell sounded. "Speaking of which," Annabeth said, straightening up, "Do you have cash for the tip?"

"Oh, I see how this works," I said, reaching for my wallet in my pocket.

"What's yours is mine," she replied, smirking as she headed for the door. I counted an adequate tip for the delivery person and followed after her.

I carried dinner to the table a minute later while she called for Logan and Carly. "Should I go track down our other son?" I asked.

She sighed lightly in exasperation as the other two entered the kitchen. "Yeah. I told him to be back ten minutes ago but that obviously went in one ear and out the other." The slight upturning of her lips at the end of this sentence told me she wasn't really that upset about it.

I slipped a pair of shoes on and stepped out the front door, surveying the immediate area for any sign of the eleven-year olds. I didn't see anything and, shaking my head, began closing the door behind me when a fairly nearby cry sent ice shooting instantly through my veins.

" _Dad!"_

Nicky's voice. He sounded scared and I knew, if from nothing other than simple parental instinct, that he was in trouble. I was already running.

"Nicholas!" I yelled, crossing the yard in seconds and turning the corner one house down, following the sound of his reply. It didn't take me long to find him and Hannah. They were both in the street I'd just turned onto, maybe two hundred feet down. And they weren't alone.

A huge grey wolf stood growling at Nicky, who stood between it and a terrified Hannah, his sword drawn. I could see him shaking even from afar, but his sword arm was steady.

Even in a dead sprint, the sight almost made me falter. Wolves weren't unheard of in New York, but we were fairly close to the city and we still had several hours left of daylight. I'd been expecting something bad, but not this.

"Stay back!" Nicholas shouted at the snarling animal, moving with it as it began circling them, "I don't know if this sword will even hurt you, but I'll do it anyway!" Neither he nor the wolf had spotted me yet. Behind him, Hannah was looking between the wolf and Nick's sword like she didn't know which thing to be more scared of.

It had been maybe a second. I was still sprinting toward them. I had no idea what I would do to protect the kids from a wild animal, but I was determined to figure something out.

That is until the trio shifted again as Nicky, with Hannah, circled with the thing again and I got a better look at the wolf. And this time I did momentarily falter, more confused now than worried about their safety.

Because the kids didn't know it but they weren't in any real danger. I recognized that wolf. I'd seen it years ago, at the Wolf House in California.

It was one of Lupa's.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Reviews are always appreciated. :)**


	12. Brave New World

**Hey guys! This update turned out really long, but I didn't really want to divide it up. Hopefully you all don't mind _too_ much. :)  
**

* * *

"Stop!" I yelled, closing the distance and placing myself between the kids and the wolf, my arms outstretched toward each party. I glanced quickly between the angry wolf and the ten-year olds, "Nicky, put your sword down." Behind me, the wolf snarled in agreement.

She went off on him the second the Celestial Bronze blade was sheathed. "How _dare_ you!" Lupa's associate scolded him, looking furious, "If you cannot tell the difference between friend and enemy, perhaps you should not wield such a weapon!" Hearing this was slightly strange, as, during my time spent at the Wolf House, long ago as it was, I'd only ever heard the wolves other than Lupa speak aloud a handful of times. From what I remembered, they preferred their language of expressions and gestures whenever possible.

Judging from the look on Nicky's face, I guessed this was the first time the she-wolf had spoken outright to him. He looked dumbfounded more than repentant. And poor Hannah; she backed away from her spot behind him, looking terrified, and in her haste, caught her foot on a low spot in the road and fell backwards.

Nicky, likely because I now stood between him and the wolf, turned around and moved to help her. He didn't make it more than half a step. "Stay away from me!" Hannah yelled at him, scooting backward on the ground with tears streaming down her face, "All of you!"

He recoiled, looking hurt, and then turned back to the angry wolf. "Who are you?" He demanded of her.

The she-wolf bared her teeth in an angry but not threatening manner. "I see no reason to share that information with _you_."

"Whoa, whoa," I said, my arms still outstretched in an effort to look placating, "How about we all calm down." I looked at the she wolf. She was a silvery gray, with a lighter tan on her belly and legs. "I know who you are," I told her, "I remember you."

"I remember you as well, Percy Jackson," she answered grudgingly, "And frankly your lack of diligence in raising that pup is abhorrent." That seemed uncalled for, but I didn't press the issue.

"Nicholas is young," I explained, "He didn't know what was going on. He's sorry."

The wolf still seemed put off, but was much kinder and slightly grudging in her reply. "You shouldn't fight your young's battles for them."

"You're probably right," I conceded, more out of obligation than from any real agreement. I wished Annabeth were here, but then it was probably just as well that she wasn't.

Satisfied that things had calmed down some, I snuck a glance behind me at Hannah, still on the ground. "Are you okay?" She hesitated for a moment and then nodded, getting to her feet. "I know this is scary and probably confusing," I added, "But stay here, okay? We'll get it figured out." She gave the tiniest of nods in response.

I turned back to the wolf again and noticed her expression, sort of the wolf equivalent of a human's raising an eyebrow. "Doing my job for me, Percy Jackson?"

"That wasn't my intention," I said, bowing my head slightly in a show of submission, "Honestly, I have no idea what your job here is."

"As it should be," said the she-wolf dismissively, "It concerns neither you nor your pup." This surprised me. I'd assumed the wolf had been sent for Nicky, or even Annabeth and I, for one reason or another. Even, gods forbid, another quest. But that apparently wasn't the case. And if the she-wolf hadn't come for one of us…

Lupa's compatriot didn't leave time for me to finish that thought before she began forward, past me, in a beeline for Hannah. The girl backed up half a step, but stopped when the wolf spoke. "Do not fear, Hannah Lawrence. I am Accalia, servant of Lupa and Rome. You must go to the Wolf House, where you will be tested and trained in the ways of Rome." I glanced away from the exchange to look briefly at Nicky, who stared, wide-eyed, at his friend. I couldn't say I blamed him. Accalia continued, "You are a half-blood child of the gods and, while you are young, it is time you embraced it. The wolves will guide you."

Hannah looked rather confused and I wondered vaguely if Lupa's associates explained things to all Roman half-bloods that way. It was true the Romans were harsher than the Greeks, but I personally found it hard to believe anyone with no previous knowledge of their situation could find that message helpful, especially when they were as young as Hannah. Accalia seemed disinclined to elaborate further, but Nicky spoke up before she had the option anyway. "Let me help," he pleaded, his green eyes large and earnest as he appealed to the wolf. Accalia turned to him, unimpressed, but was apparently willing to hear him out. "I know about everything already," Nicky explained, "And I know my dad's been to your Wolf House before. Hannah's my friend and she's scared and you _can't_ just leave her alone with that useless explanation!"

I tensed, waiting for Accalia to react to this. As it was, she bared her teeth. "Watch it, boy," she warned.

"Sorry," he added quickly, looking away and then tentatively back again. "Please?"

The wolf studied him silently for a moment and then huffed a very human sigh. "You children of Greece were always too soft," she muttered and then conceded after a pause. "Fine. Lupa mentioned your pack might be involved with this one. She felt it likely you would try to intervene, and I am willing to permit it only," she looked at me, "if you assist them as well. Your own pup is far too young and inexperienced to be of any use to one his own age and rank."

I had a feeling this arrangement was more of a perk allowed because of my status at New Rome and on Olympus than it was anything either Nicky or I had said or done, but I would take it. "I'll handle it," I assured Accalia.

"Then I'll allow it," she said, looking at Hannah and then back at me, "She must leave in the morning."

I nodded and the she-wolf, after one last grudging survey of the three of us, turned and ran off, disappearing behind a nearby house and into the woods behind it to the sound of howling in the distance.

I watched her go and after she was gone, with a tiny sigh, I turned and stepped carefully toward Hannah. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, placing a tentative hand on her shoulder. She looked rather unsteady.

Her eyes were filling again, but she nodded. Then she had moved forward and wrapped her arms tightly around me. She was shaking. "What is happening?" she cried, burying her head in the front of my shirt.

I wrapped me arms around her, grateful she at least wasn't scared of me after that. "It's okay, honey," I told her, "I'll explain everything, I promise." I looked at Nicky, who watched his friend in concern. "Go get your mom," I told him, "Tell her I said to leave Carly with Logan." He nodded and immediately trotted up the road toward our house. "Come on," I said gently, speaking to Hannah again, "Let's go talk to your parents." She nodded, letting go, and allowed me to guide her along the same path Nicky had taken moments before, though he was long gone now.

* * *

"I don't believe this," Hannah's father, John, breathed, leaning back against the cushioning of the sofa he sat on with his wife, Sue, and Hannah. Annabeth and I sat on the loveseat adjacent to them, where we'd been explaining everything. Nicholas had wanted to come with us, but we'd felt it wise to leave him out of the explanation part, lest it not go well. He'd been sent home to eat dinner and finish getting ready for camp in the morning. The ten year old hadn't been happy, but he knew better than to protest.

"We adopted Hannah when she was two weeks old," Sue, who had been quiet up until this point, explained, "She was abandoned at a hospital and her mother was never found. And now you're telling me that my daughter isn't _human_?"

"She is human," Annabeth corrected, her voice gentle but firm. She was better at handling situations like this and I was happy to let her take the reins. "One of her parents was fully mortal—"

"And the other was a god," John put in, cutting her off. She paused and nodded.

"Do you know how crazy that sounds?" Sue demanded, obviously upset. She was a plump woman with European coloring and dark curly hair. John was long and lean, with similar complexion. Both were slightly older than Annabeth and me. Hannah didn't look much like either of them, but I'd never put much stock in that prior to learning where she'd come from.

"I do," Annabeth told her, "Believe me."

John was calmer than his wife, but not necessarily an easier sell. "And you expect us to believe the you two are these half-gods too? And your children?"

"Yes," Annabeth said evenly, "Percy could show you if you'd like, but we preferred to sit down with you first."

"Show us how?" John asked, his eyes on me now.

"Well, some half-bloods, particularly those of powerful gods, are born with certain powers. I'm a son of the god of the sea, so I have control over water." I kept my tone serious, but light, having done this enough times by now to know what worked. It still made me uncomfortable to bring up my abilities though. Even if it was to prove a fact, it felt like bragging.

"Control over water," John echoed absently.

"This is crazy," Sue said softly, and then louder, looking between us and her husband and daughter, "This is… you're crazy. You must be. This is…"

"It sounds that way," Annabeth agreed, "I'd think the same thing in your position."

"You just met us," I added, "And the timing of all of this is really awful, but…" I paused, searching for better words and finding nothing but "It's the truth." Sue was shaking her head and I was pretty sure she was searching for a polite way to kick us out of her house. Beside her, John didn't seem to know what to think. Hannah watched her parents' reactions in concern. I glanced beside me at Annabeth. She met my eyes and nodded. I turned back to Hannah's parents and said gently, "Watch."

There was a vase of flowers on the coffee table in front of us. I focused on it now and willed the water to leave the bottom. It did, rising up the sides and eventually out of the vase completely, to the amazement of John and Sue Lawrence.

John gaped openly as I returned the water to its vase. Sue had, at first, shied away from the liquid as I'd influenced it, but now sat forward, watching with wide eyes too. There was complete silence for a three-count, and Hannah was the first to break it. "Do it again." Almost smirking, I looked to her parents, gauging their reactions. John, his mouth still slightly open, nodded silently. I repeated the action.

When I finished again, he sat forward. "Y-you can… That's amazing," he managed.

Sue still looked shocked, but seemed slightly abashed when she looked at us and said, "I guess we have to believe you now."

"Well, no," I said, "You don't _have_ to, but it would definitely help." She managed a smile.

"So, you're all… half-bloods," she stumbled over the term, "And Hannah is too?"

"Yes and no," Annabeth explained, "Hannah is a half-blood, but her godly parent, whoever they are, is Roman. Percy and I are Greek."

"And what does that mean?" John asked, "What's the difference?"

"Well, the Greek and Roman pantheons are very similar, so in terms of differences from us, there aren't too many. Others do exist that vary a lot more. The Romans are based out of California currently, so their training camp for demigods is there. "

"And Hannah has to go there?" Sue asked.

"She doesn't _have_ to," Annabeth explained, emphasizing the word carefully, "But she definitely should _._ It's the only way she can learn to fight and protect herself from the monsters we mentioned before. Now that she knows what she is, her scent will be much stronger and she'll be more vulnerable. She'll be in serious danger if she isn't prepared." Sue looked away, obviously fighting tears. "I'm sorry," Annabeth told her gently, "It's not something any parent wants to hear."

I looked at Hannah, who had sat listening in silence. She processed it but seemed to be taking it all very well, especially for her age.

"But if she goes to this camp and learns what she needs to, she'll be okay? She can grow up normally like you have?" Sue asked.

The quiet chuckle had left my mouth before I could do anything to prevent it. Beside me, Annabeth was smiling a bit too when she replied, "Well, I wouldn't say Percy and my life is anything close to normal, nor can I promise that everything will be fine if Hannah goes to Camp Jupiter. As half-bloods, there's simply no such thing. But the odds are much better now compared even to when we were kids. Still, in complete honesty, even in times of peace like this, your daughter doesn't stand a chance without proper training."

"Then I guess that settles it," John said. Sue's brown eyes still leaked tears occasionally, but she nodded in agreement, "She has to go."

"It's just for the summer?" Sue added.

Annabeth nodded. "There are year-round campers there too, but as long as the half-blood has a home to go back to, they're welcome to spend the school year there. We do that with our boys."

"And your daughter?"

"She doesn't know yet. We tried with all our kids to keep them in the dark and safe as long as possible. When she finds out, she'll go with them."

Sue looked at her daughter, and then back at Annabeth. "Hannah's so young."

"I know," she answered sympathetically, "I'm surprised the wolves showed up as early as they did, but the gods have their own way of doing things. We just have to go along with it. And every half-blood is different. Logan was six when he found out."

That information seemed to help a bit. And it was true that eleven, in comparison to six, was not that young at all. John turned to his daughter. "We won't make you go, honey," he said, "But I think you should, if you'll be safe."

Hannah looked hesitantly from him to us. "Nick doesn't go to the Roman camp?"

"No, he doesn't," Annabeth told her, "But the two camps get together a few times a month for dinner and Capture the Flag, and campers are always going back and forth between them, so you'll still see him."

Hannah hesitated again but nodded, apparently encouraged that she'd still see the only friend she'd made in this new town every once in a while throughout the summer. I wasn't sure how much of the other stuff she understood, but she seemed to know it was serious and I knew once she made it from the Wolf House to Camp Jupiter, she'd know all she needed to.

"When does she need to leave?" Sue asked tentatively.

"The wolf I spoke to said tomorrow," I explained, knowing this was far too soon for either party to become comfortable with the idea.

"We're supposed to get her to California by tomorrow?" John asked, "Plane tickets this late will cost a fortune. If we can even get them at all."

"Well," I said, "I was thinking about that. If it's all right with you, and you aren't at all obligated to do it, but I know of another way to get Hannah to Sonoma Valley."

* * *

Unsurprisingly, the next morning was chaotic. We were up early, as we usually were on the first day of the summer session. Logan and Nicky rushed to get last minute things packed and ready to go, the former with more enthusiasm than the latter.

"Why can't I go with you to drop off Hannah?" Nicky wanted to know for the umpteenth time since we'd returned from the Lawrences' the night before.

"Because you have to be at camp today," I answered, probably with more patience than he deserved at this point, but I understood why he kept pestering and feared he'd inherited more than just my good looks.

"Why can't I just go later? I won't miss that much."

"Because your mom and I both have to work today, Nicholas, and we can't be making multiple trips back and forth."

"But I want to say goodbye to her."

"You can. Before she leaves." He looked unhappy but not necessarily willing to risk pushing the issue further. I sighed. "I know you're worried about her, Nicky, but you know this is something she has to do on her own. You know how the Romans are."

"It's not fair," he muttered.

"Maybe not," I said, "But not much in life is. Camp Jupiter is a good place with great people. She'll be okay."

He studied his socked feet. "I just met her."

"She's not going anywhere, bud. You'll see her for joint war games and she'll be back at the end of the summer, just like you will. And you'll have a lot more to talk about now. Don't worry too much about it." He still looked uncertain, but he nodded.

Nico showed up a few minutes later. "There's never a dull moment around here, is there?" he asked once he'd been let inside.

"You can say that again," I told him.

I'd arranged it with Nico and Hannah's parents that we'd shadow travel to just outside the Wolf House with her. It was quicker and easier than anything they'd be able to come up with on such short notice, and while John and Sue still seemed a bit apprehensive about the idea, they were willing to allow it as long as one of us went along with her. I'd taken part of the morning off from work for the trip.

Years ago, shadow traveling across the country and back again would have been enough to knock Nico out for a week, but he was an old pro now and assured me that he could make the trip five more times right after ours and "still be okay, probably."

A few minutes later, the kids were fed, the boys were packed, and everyone seemed ready to go. Carly, who would be going with Annabeth to drop the boys off at Half-Blood Hill, which was, as far as the eight-year old knew or cared, just a regular old summer camp, and then on to my parents' for the day while Annabeth went in to work, walked up to me. Her mom had pulled her curls back into a ponytail not unlike the kind she often wore herself, and her green eyes were slightly heavy-lidded. It had been a bit of a late night for everyone. I picked her up and held her against me the way I had since she was born. She rested her head on my shoulder. Someday sooner than I would like, she'd be too big for that, but until then, no matter how old she was, I still planned to coddle her a bit. I waited with her and Nico by the door until Annabeth approached, followed by the boys, and we were ready to leave.

John, Sue, and Hannah waited for us at the end of their driveway. Nicholas hurried over to his friend, who looked slightly nervous, and appeared to be encouraging her. John and Sue looked at us. I was still holding Carly, who was half-asleep by now. I introduced them to Nico. He shook hands with each of them and they greeted him in kind but tense tones. "Thank you for doing this," Sue said, looking at me once the son of Hades had made their acquaintance, "I can't imagine what we would have done without your help."

"It's no problem," I told her.

She looked then at Logan, who had loaded his and Nicky's bags in the car and now stood somewhat awkwardly behind me. He had met the new neighbors with the rest of us when they'd first moved in and knew Hannah fairly well by now, but wasn't familiar enough with her parents to be entirely comfortable. "You're going to the Greek camp today with Nick?" she asked of him.

He looked a little surprised at being addressed, but recovered quickly. "Yes, ma'am," he answered.

Sue didn't seem to know quite how to ask her next question. "Do… do you like it there?"

Logan blinked. "Yeah," he said, "Yeah, it's a lot of fun. It sounds really weird when you don't know what its like but we learn a lot and do a lot of cool stuff. And it's completely safe there. I like it a lot." He added, "And Camp Jupiter's the same way. I've been there a lot of times. It's a really great place."

His words, more than anything else I'd seen so far, seemed to encourage Hannah's parents. Sue nodded, leaning into her husband. John told him, "Thank you."

Looking a little surprised, Logan nodded.

I glanced down at the watch on my wrist that seconded as a shield when needed. It was getting late. I glanced at Annabeth. "I'll go put her in the car." She nodded.

When I returned, Sue had tears in her eyes and Annabeth was saying, "She really will be okay." I changed course and headed to where Nicky and Hannah spoke to each other a few feet away from the adults. I couldn't imagine how difficult this must have been for Hannah's parents, who'd had no prior knowledge or any idea at all that anything was different about their daughter until last night. It was hard enough sending my own boys away for almost the whole summer when I knew exactly what they were, where they were going, and how great a place it really was.

"Hey," I said when I reached the kids, "We've all got to get going soon." I placed my hand gently on Nicky's hair as his face fell.

Annabeth walked up behind me. "Are you ready, Nicky?" she asked.

He nodded mutely and looked at Hannah, who stepped forward and hugged him tightly. He seemed slightly surprised by the gesture but returned it easily and with matching enthusiasm. "Don't forget about me," Hannah told him.

"I won't," he promised.

They separated and Nicky followed after his mother toward the car, where Logan waited and Carly slept, waving goodbye to John and Sue as he went. Hannah watched as Annabeth backed out of the driveway and pulled slowly away, waving to her friend as she did. Then she turned to her parents and hugged them both fiercely.

A few minutes later, she stepped away and toward Nico and me, looking expectant. Behind her, John said, "Take care of her." I nodded.

"Will you let us know that she's safe?" Sue asked.

"Of course. If you need anything, just let us know."

"Thank you," John said and shook my hand.

I stepped back and looked to Nico. "Ready?" he asked, more of Hannah than me. She'd already been debriefed on what to expect from shadow travel. She nodded.

Nico looked around quickly to determine no one else was around on our street, and then shadow travelled the three of us away. The feeling of extreme speed was almost familiar now, and an instant later, we landed in woods far different from the ones in New York. Hannah stumbled a bit upon landing, but looked little worse for wear.

"Are you okay?" I asked her anyway.

She nodded, looking exhilarated. "That was really cool," she said.

Nico grinned. "Just wait, kiddo," he said, "You'll see a whole lot more cool stuff." Hannah smiled in reply.

The sounds of approaching wolves could be heard now as we stood there and I had no doubt they were coming to meet us. Thirty seconds later, they appeared. It was Lupa, followed by Accalia and one other associate whom I recognized but couldn't name. "Percy Jackson," the wolf goddess greeted me, "You are good as your word. Thank you for brining Hannah to me." She didn't wait for a reply before she turned her gaze on Hannah, all but ignoring Nico completely. "Come," she told her, "You'll start your training here at the Wolf House with me. If you can prove yourself worthy of Rome, you'll be allowed to continue on to Camp Jupiter in time." Hannah hesitated and looked up at me. She jumped when Lupa sternly added, "Now."

She moved to follow after the goddess, who was turning away, still looking at me. I nodded and tried to look encouraging. Part of me wished Lupa would lighten up. Hannah wasn't even twelve yet. But I knew it would never happen. The Romans had their own way of doing things and I'd endured everything Hannah would at the Wolf House. Lupa put on a good show but I knew she did care, and Hannah would be just fine.

Lupa's compatriots moved to follow after their leader and new pup, but Accalia waited half a second and raised her head slightly in a gesture that I remembered meant _Thank you._ I nodded once in acknowledgement and she turned and followed the small group, leaving Nico and I alone in the Sonoma Woods in California.

"What now?" Nico asked.

"Now we go back home," I told him, "I told my boss I'd be at work by ten. I've got a whole other situation to deal with there."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!  
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	13. While It Lasts

**Hey guys! Here's an update for you. It's mostly a filler chapter and it's a little short, but I think it's cute. Next update should be longer and more eventful, but for now, I hope you enjoy. :)**

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Summers were the quietest time of the year in the Jackson house. With both boys away at camp, this wasn't exactly surprising. It was always strange though, not having them around for two months, and I wondered sometimes if the apartment I'd grown up in always felt as empty to my mom when I was gone as our house did to me now. I wondered what Annabeth and I would do with ourselves in a few more years when all three of them were away. A part of me really looked forward to it, but mostly I felt old and kind of sad thinking about it.

For the moment, Carly was still at home and was currently fast asleep on the couch, wedged between us on the cushions. The boys had been gone just over two weeks now and she had enjoyed the freedom the situation presented her to pick the movie we watched tonight. Her choice had been one about a young girl and a horse, and honestly I got bored with it pretty quickly. But I stayed anyway, because she was excited about it and frankly I probably loved her too much for my own good at times.

That didn't mean I wasn't glad that she'd fallen asleep halfway through.

Annabeth, as if reading my mind, glanced down at Carly, her head half-buried in my side and her breathing deep, picked up the remote from the coffee table in front of us, and deftly turned the TV off.

I looked over at her, my arm slung over the back of the couch. She met my eyes with a small smirk, which I returned before shifting out from under Carly and standing. The eight-year old stirred slightly as I maneuvered her enough to pick her up. "Come on, honey," I murmured, "Let's go to bed." She woke up a little, but allowed me to pick her up. She laid her head on my shoulder and was asleep again before we reached her bedroom. I tucked her in, left her door open a crack, and headed back downstairs. Annabeth was still seated where I'd left her. She watched me approach.

"She didn't brush her teeth," she said when I was a few steps away.

I hesitated. "Do you want me to go wake her up?"

She considered it for half a second and shook her head. "She'll be fine for one night."

"Okay," I said softly, seating myself down beside her. She moved closer and I put my arm around her.

We sat together for a few seconds in silence before she asked, "How was your day?"

"It was alright," I answered, "I think the sturgeon fiasco is finally behind us, thank gods."

"How did you explain it away?"

"I didn't. The water tests came back normal so no one has a clue what to think. They chalked it up to a genetic anomaly and moved on to other things."

She hummed, leaning into me. "That ended better than it could have."

"Yeah," I laughed, "The authorities aren't after me this time, at least." She smiled in agreement. "What about you? How was your day?"

"It was fine. Other than drawing up the blueprints for that office building downtown, work is slow this week, and with only one kid around here, I almost don't know what to do with myself."

I smiled, curling a loose strand of her hair around my finger. "Just wait until Carly's at camp too," I told her, voicing my thoughts from earlier.

"Gods," she said contemplatively, "I don't know what I'll do then. I'll have to work more hours just to keep from going crazy."

"We should go on vacation," I said, "A long one. Just us, no kids."

Annabeth snorted. "When was the last time we did _that_?"

"Before Logan probably."

She shook her head. "What did we even _do_ back then? Is it sad that I don't remember?"

"Probably." Though to be honest, I wasn't sure I knew myself. Raising three kids took up so much time each and every day, the idea of a life before any of them was surprisingly hard to fathom. There had been a time in our lives that hadn't involved cleaning messes or breaking up fights or wiping butts, and I didn't remember ever being bored before the kids had come along, but I truly did wonder now what we'd done with so much free time.

A moment of silence passed between us and I wondered if Annabeth was thinking similarly. " _Di Immortales,_ Percy," she murmured, "We sound so old."

With a sigh, I said, "I know."

She took the hand that wasn't around her, my right one, and flipped it over in her lap. With her finger, she absentmindedly traced the tattoo on my forearm, the one from Camp Jupiter. It was a habit she'd picked up in more recent years, one that I wasn't totally sure she was aware of. I kind of liked it. "I'm not sure I'm ready for Carly to know the truth yet; for all of them to know."

"Yeah," I replied quietly.

She looked at me now, smirking. "I _know_ you're not."

I smiled. "We could always have another one," I reasoned. I was joking. Mostly. "It's not too late."

"No," she said adamantly, "We will not be doing that, Seaweed Brain."

I chuckled, "Okay."

She shook her head against me and gave in to laughed once herself. "Oh," she said then, straightening, "I forgot to tell you. We got a letter from the boys earlier."

"What'd they say?" I asked.

"They're settled in. Some Roman campers joined them for Capture the Flag the other night." She hesitated strangely and added, "Logan got hurt."

"What?" I asked, slightly alarmed.

She shook her head slightly but didn't look overly concerned. "I guess the match got competitive and he got caught in between an Apollo camper and an overexcited son of Vulcan. He took a flaming arrow to the arm and was in the infirmary for two days." She smirked, amused. "He seemed more concerned about letting us know they won."

I gave a laugh. "That's my boy."

She rolled her eyes but smiled, shaking her head. "Nice of him to let us know after the fact."

I shrugged. "We would have heard if it was serious. Anything less than life threatening isn't worth worrying about. Could you imagine if my mom had been notified every time I ended up in the infirmary as a kid?" Even now, the idea was horrifying. She'd done enough worrying about me as it was.

Annabeth snorted. "No," she replied, "And I know. I'm trying not to be so hung up on the fact." I stared at her and failed to keep from grinning. She met my eyes and smiled, rolling her eyes. "I know."

We sat smiling for another few seconds. Then I sobered. "Did Nicky say anything?" I asked, "How's he doing?" His feelings regarding Camp Half-Blood had been all over throughout the past year and a half. Though we were working on it, he lacked confidence in himself, which spilled over to affect his life both at school and at camp. Despite our efforts, Annabeth and I were more than a little well-known among both the Greeks and the Romans, even without our regular participation in over fifteen years. Our boys were not strangers to the legacy we'd unwittingly left behind, but while Logan thrived under it, Nicky, at times, struggled with the pressure—most of which he placed on himself.

"He's okay, I think," she said, "He beat his record on the rock wall. You can read the letter if you want. It's in the kitchen." I nodded but didn't move. She continued, looking thoughtful, "He said Hannah hasn't made it to Camp Jupiter yet. He's worried."

I sighed, tightening my arm sound her slightly. "I'm sure she's fine. It's only been a few weeks."

"How long did it take you?" she asked, her hand once again finding the tattoo on my arm, more deliberately this time.

I tried to remember. "I don't know," I replied, "I don't think I was at the Wolf House _that_ long after I woke up but that whole time is kind of a blur. It took a while to find Camp Jupiter after I left though." I paused, thinking, "Maybe a week. But my situation wasn't exactly normal, so…"

She sighed, leaning further into my side. "I know."

"She'll be okay," I told her, "So will Nicky."

She nodded slightly absently. "I hope so. He cares about her so much."

"She's his friend," I said, "If he's as much like me as I think he is, that's no small thing." I stated this like a fact. That's what it was.

She smiled, looking straight ahead. "I know." Then she sighed and shook her head. "Gods, I worry too much."

I smirked and poked her side. "I think it's a mom thing." After a beat, I added, "Or a parent thing…"

She smiled again, and then, staring straight ahead, her expression grew thoughtful. "Do you ever think about that?" she asked after a pause, "How much has changed. How much _we've_ changed."

"From what?"

She gestured vaguely with her hand. "This. Growing up, having kids… moving on with our lives."

"Sometimes," I said.

"It's crazy…" She looked at me, smirking now, "All I wanted when I was younger was a remotely peaceful life and a family of my own, but I don't think I ever really believed that was possible back then."

"I thought all you wanted when you were young was to be a _world famous_ architect," I said playfully.

She gave a laugh. "I did, at first. But at some point, you became more important."

I smiled, still looking at her. "Yeah?" I leaned forward and quickly kissed her lips. "Well, we did the impossible." She smiled. "Athena must be so disappointed."

Annabeth laughed. "She can deal with it." She leaned in and kissed me again, and I didn't hesitate to deepen it.

It was probably too much to ask that things stayed as good as they were now, but then, that didn't mean we couldn't enjoy the peace while it lasted.

Knowing us, it wouldn't last too long.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!  
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	14. One Big Happy Family

**Hello! Another update for you. Sorry for the wait!**

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The annual peace celebration between the Greek and Roman camps rolled around like it always did at the end of August. This year's, the twenty-first since the war, was taking place at Camp Half-Blood.

Attendance among the original half-bloods from the time of the war had dwindled over the past ten or so years as we'd all grown up, married, and had legacies of our own, though the campers younger than us had always made up for it in our absence. Not everyone went the route Annabeth and I did in keeping our kids in the dark for as long as possible. Chris and Clarisse had raised their boys, Riley and Cody, knowing everything from the start, as did Reyna and Aaron with Jacob, though living in New Rome as they did, that probably made more sense. Leo and Calypso had wavered in their decision, initially deciding to go the way we had but then changing their minds when the twins were about three. As Leo put it, "Finding out the way I did was traumatic enough. This way, the girls just know everything from the start and if I accidentally set myself on fire in front of them, it's no big deal." I supposed I couldn't argue with that logic.

Many of the rest of us tried to keep the little ones safe as long as possible. For some, this was harder than others. Piper and Jason, I knew, had multiple close calls with Isabella and Caleb before they both found out for themselves, and Lily, Travis and Katie's daughter, found out at a young age because of unfortunate timing on their part. We'd ourselves had the scare with Logan when he was just five, and he'd learned he was a legacy only about a year later.

No one said keeping the secret from the kids was easy, but the general consensus remained among us that ignorance was the safest route for them, if only for a while.

Because of this, however, it was difficult at times to make it to these celebrations each year, as reliable babysitters who could be trusted to watch children who were part god were in short supply. My mom and Paul had always been willing to watch our kids for us—Carly was with them now—but even we'd missed the yearly get-together more than once. As the legacies got older and gradually learned the truth for themselves, attendance became easier, though the half-bloods who'd been young, new campers when we'd all been graduating high school, faced the same challenges with their own children now. It was a relentless cycle, but somehow we all managed. It was something we'd gotten good at over the years.

Annabeth and I had arrived a few minutes ago and walked now past the Big House, our goal the dining pavilion, which had become the camp's de facto meeting spot for these occasions. We were a little early and the campers were still finishing up the day's activities. They would be joining the festivities shortly.

We passed by the arena on the way, drawing some smiles and even more stares from the campers we saw. Like it or not, everyone knew who we were, even twenty years later. Jake Benson, my now twenty-two year old half-brother and fellow son of Poseidon stood near the entrance, watching what I assumed was a practicing class inside. He still worked summers as a counselor. Jake was one of a few siblings I'd acquired since the Titan War ended and my dad apparently went back to fooling around with humans. We were still more of a rarity than the children of most other gods though, so I guess that made it slightly better. Very slightly.

As far as I knew, we numbered six so far. Jake was the eldest, second only to me, with more than sixteen years between us. We didn't see much of each other, but we did keep in touch.

He caught sight of us as we drew near and grinned, waving us over. I glanced at Annabeth, who smirked and changed course. "Your son is killing it!" he told us as we drew near.

"Which one?" I asked, stopping beside him and peering inside.

"Nick," he answered, even as I could now see for myself. Nicky stood in the center of the arena, sword in hand, facing two opponents and holding his own exceptionally well. He moved quickly but looked hardly tired at all, and his footwork was impeccable. "I've seriously never seen anything like him. It's only his second summer!"

Annabeth stood watching just to my right. "He looks like you," she said to me, pride in her tone.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Jake said wistfully, "knowing who his dad is. Seriously, as if you didn't already leave enough of a mark for the rest of us Poseidon kids to live up to. Figures, your kid would be a natural too." His tone didn't match his words. He sounded about as proud of his nephew as he could be. He was constantly amused at the abilities our kids seemed to innately possess. Logan was not the swordsman his brother was, but he'd showed a proficiency in controlling water when he'd first visited camp at six years old, and had been better at it than both Jake and Hannah, our half sister, both campers at the time. It frustrated Jake to no end back then, but it truly had been impressive. Nicholas had yet to show any real ability over water, but the only one who was bothered by that was Nicholas.

As we watched, he disarmed one opponent and then the other in quick succession. He ended with a sword in each hand, his and that of the half-blood he'd just disarmed—the other's had been flung ten feet from where they stood. He had one blade pointed at each camper's neck, his grip on each steady and sure. He looked exhilarated. His opponents were out of breath, even as they smiled. Amid the cheering of the rest of the sword class, Nicky lowered the swords and handed the borrowed blade back to it's owner while the other camper, a dark-haired girl at least a year his senior, trotted away to retrieve her own. Neither looked particularly surprised at having lost.

"See what I mean?" Jake asked, smiling widely, before he walked forward and addressed the campers. "Alright! Nick, that was excellent! Maggie and Grant, great work. Everyone, make sure you leave any borrowed armor and weapons in the bins by the door. Get showered. The feast starts in an hour."

The group of young half-bloods all dispersed, the sounds of chatting and clanging metal as armor was removed and blades put away filled the room. Annabeth and I were unseen by most of the kids right away, though Nicky, in turning away from the finished fight, caught sight of us. He smiled and ran over. "Did you see that?!" he demanded, stopping before us, "Jake said he wanted to give me a challenge and make me face two people, and I actually did it!"

Annabeth, smiling beside me, assured him that we did. "That was awesome, bud," I told him, holding my hand up, palm out. Nicky high-fived me, looking exceptionally pleased. After the struggles he'd faced with camp in the past, I was happy to see he seemed to have finally found a niche for himself.

"Are we going to the celebration?" he asked, his cheeks slightly flushed from either exertion or excitement.

"Yes," Annabeth told him, "But you need to go get ready first."

He smiled. "Okay."

"We'll meet you at the dining pavilion."

"'Kay," he said, and took off toward the showers, in the direction many of his classmates had already disappeared.

We turned to leave to head over ourselves. We were a little early, but I doubted we were the only ones. Jake was still across the arena by the bleachers, talking to a small group of campers who remained. I caught his eye and held up a hand. He waved back and called, "I'll catch you later!"

The dining pavilion was still pretty deserted. Most of the guests had yet to arrive, though we were assured the Romans were minutes away. Frank and Hazel, having come separate from the Roman contingent, were already seated there with the Rodriguez's and a handful of other half-bloods, most younger than us, who had gathered early. No one had seen us yet as we approached, and we were intercepted before we got close by an excited pink object. "Aunt Annabeth! Uncle Percy!" little Ivory Underwood cried, sprinting over with a smile splitting her face. She jumped up when she reached us and I caught her out of the air. Grover and Juniper's youngest was a year younger than Carly, but was only about half as big because she aged so much slower.

"Hey, Ivory," Annabeth said, kissing the little girl's cheek, "How are you?"

"Good!" the young nymph answered excitedly.

"Where are your parents?" I asked her.

"They're coming."

"Do they know you're out here?" Annabeth asked her. We knew from Grover that she liked to wander off on her own. Her escapades had resulted in more than one camp-wide search in the past. Ivory's smile was answer enough.

By now everyone in the pavilion was aware of our presence. I raised a hand in a wave, which was received with smiled and returned gestures by our waiting friends.

A familiar voice sounded from behind us, "Percy! Annabeth!" We turned in unison, Ivory still in my arms, to see Jason and Piper approaching with ten-year old Caleb walking between them. Their older daughter, Isabella, like our own boys, was probably around somewhere. Behind them trailed many more half-bloods, both current and former campers, some with families and some alone, while others still walked with friends. Among them I saw Leo and Calypso, each holding a twin's hand, and the Stolls. Travis and Katie, her abdomen swollen from the pregnancy that had surprised everyone, made their way past the cabins. Conner walked with them. He and Sarah, the clear-sighted mortal he had fallen for and eventually married had been separated for a while now. Their boys, Jacob and Joshua, were still young and stayed for now with their mom during camp get-togethers. Just rounding the crest of Half-Blood Hill was a huge crowd of demigods that I knew right away consisted of the Roman campers. Over the years, the numbers that travelled from New Rome had grown and now all but a few who stayed behind for guard duty showed up for the annual event.

Annabeth hugged Piper, Jason, and Caleb in turn. With Ivory still in my arms until I could return her to her parents, I just smiled. "How've you been?" Piper asked, smiling, a gentle hand on Caleb's back. He looked around with nervous excitement. The blonde-haired legacy had found out about the gods very late into the current camp session and, shy as he was, wasn't quite ready to join the ranks yet.

"Great," Annabeth answered, "What about you?"

"We've been good," Piper said. "Caleb's still getting used to everything," she said in a lower voice, "We're hoping tonight will help."

Annabeth nodded understandingly beside me. Caleb looked up at her and asked quietly, "Have you seen Izzie?"

"Not yet," she told him, "We saw Nick though. He should be coming soon. Logan and Izzie too." He nodded and looked away, around at the camp and the faces passing by. A few people clapped me on the back and smiled as they went. Others waved but didn't otherwise break away from ongoing conversation.

Jason grinned at me, nodding at Ivory. "Did you have another kid we don't know about?" he joked.

I laughed and Ivory joined in. "No!" she said, "Uncle Percy's just watching me!"

"Oh," Jason told her, like that explained everything, and then he smiled, breaking the charade. "How ya doing, Ivory?" he asked.

"Good!" she answered, elated.

Piper, beside Jason, glanced toward the pavilion. Campers in orange shirts were starting to make their way over. "I'm going to take Caleb in there. See if we can't find a familiar face his age. We'll see you guys later."

They walked away, leaving Jason standing next to Annabeth. He was soon preoccupied with Leo, who had reached us and, Esperanza at his side and Calypso half a step behind with Genevieve, slung an arm around each of them. "Hey strangers! What's up? You don't call, you don't write."

The son of Jupiter looked at him dubiously, "I IM'ed you last week."

"Yeah, I know," Leo laughed, "I missed you guys." He grinned at me, "Hey, Percy."

"What's up, man," I grinned back. Calypso had joined us. Ivory waved to the twins, who stood together between their parents, but she seemed perfectly content where she was and made no effort to get down with them. Esperanza and Genevieve waved back.

The Romans had reached us now. Most continued past toward the dining pavilion, but a few familiar faces smiled as they went. Reyna and Aaron walked by with Jacob. They were far away, carried along by the crowd, but they waved as they passed.

A voice broke through the throng, from the woods a ways behind us. "Ivory! Ivory Underwood!" I recognized the voice, worried as it sounded, and turned in time to see Juniper heading toward us, scanning the camp as she went. I knew when she caught sight of me with her daughter in my arms. Relief washed across her features and she rushed over. "Oh, thank gods you found her!"

"Well she found us, actually," I said, "I figured you might want her back."

"Oh, yes," she said, exhaling, "Thank you." She reached up and I put Ivory in her arms. "Ivy, you can't just run off without letting Daddy and me know," she told her daughter, "We've told you that!"

"Sorry, Mommy," the little girl replied, looking down. Juniper sighed, placing her on her feet and taking firm hold of her hand, "Anyway, hi!" she told us; Annabeth had come to stand next to me. The Valdez family and Jason, caught up in their own conversation now that we'd abandoned it, made their way toward the dining pavilion with the others now. "It's so good to see you." Juniper hugged both of us in turn while still keeping hold of Ivory's hand, "It's been so long."

Before either of us could reply, Grover came toward us from another direction. "Ivory!" he called frantically, searching faces, "Has anyone seen—Percy!" He changed course and trotted over, relief crossing his features, as it had on Juniper's, when he spotted his wife and youngest child standing next to us. "You found her!" he cried, looking at Juniper.

"Percy and Annabeth did," she told him.

"Thank you!" he told us, wide-eyed and then looked at his daughter. "Ivy, don't _do_ that to me!"

"I just wanted to say hi," Ivory said quietly, looking down. Grover placed a hand lovingly on his daughter's head and sighed, apparently powerless to deny her that. He looked up at us again and smiled sheepishly.

Annabeth, smirking beside me, said, "Hi, Grover."

"Hi, Annabeth, Perce," he hugged her and then me, "It's been forever."

"I know," she said apologetically, "We have to get together more." He nodded agreement.

"How are the kids?" Juniper asked.

I smirked. "Carly's good. As for the boys, you might know better than we do."

"Not me," Juniper replied, "I don't get down here much. But Grover does."

"Yeah," the satyr said, "I see Nicky and Logan pretty often. They're so much like you guys. I couldn't be prouder of them if I tried." I smiled.

"Speaking of which," said Juniper, smiling at something behind us. I turned to see Logan walking toward us with another orange-clad camper. He broke away from him when they neared us and told him he'd see him later.

"Hey," I told him, wrapping him in a one-armed hug, which he returned. Annabeth, smiling, ran a hand through his ever-messy hair in a vain attempt to tame it. He put up with it for a second and then ducked out of the way.

"Have you seen your brother?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "Not since earlier." Campers were still making their way over from all around camp. Logan glanced toward the filling dining pavilion. "Are we going over there?" he asked.

"We probably should," I said, looking to the Underwoods, "You guys coming to the feast?"

Grover nodded and looked at Juniper, who nudged Ivory toward her father. "Take her over there," she told him, and then looking between us, said, "Jade and Aspen are still home. I have to go grab them."

She left to do so and the five of us started toward the gathering crowd. "How's everything been?" I asked Grover as we went. "The council still treating you well?"

"Yeah, actually. Things have been really good. We're finally making some leeway with our conservation efforts. And the kids are great. Jade's become goat-crazy all of a sudden though. And she's _way_ too young." The look on his face made me laugh, as well as dread the day Carly became interested in boys.

We were right outside the dining pavilion when Nicky showed up. "Mom! Dad!" he called, sprinting toward us. We stopped and waited for him to catch up. His dark hair was sill wet from showering. "Hi, Uncle Grover," he said.

"Hey, Nick," Grover replied, "How was sword class?"

Nicky grinned. "Great."

The official start of the celebration wasn't for about another twenty minutes still, but the dining pavilion had filled up greatly. Most everyone, it seemed, was already there.

Our family sat down with most of our friends. Grover waited with Ivory until Juniper returned with sixteen-year old Jade and twelve-year old Aspen before joining us.

It was interesting to see so many of the legacies we'd known as babies now campers themselves. The next generation was growing up and, I had to admit, I felt the slightest bit old at the thought.

With just a few minutes before Chiron would make his annual welcome speech and the feast would officially begin, Logan and Nicky, seated to my right, were immersed in conversation with Isabella Grace and Lily Stoll, when a voice sounded from a few tables away. "Nick!"

With so many people and general cacophony inside the pavilion, few people overall seemed to notice or care, but Nicky looked up with the rest of us in time to see a small but familiar figure making her way quickly through the crowd toward him. And Nicholas Chase Jackson, who was normally so quiet and reserved, hastily stood up and untangled his legs from the picnic bench in time to catch Hannah Lawrence as she threw herself at him. He hugged her tightly. "You're here!" he said, sounding as surprised as he was thrilled, "You made it to camp!"

Hannah's answering smile was huge. "Yeah, I got there two weeks ago. I was going to write you a letter but I found out we were coming here and I wanted to surprise you."

"It worked," Nicky laughed, "I missed you."

She smiled, "I missed you too." She looked at Annabeth and me then. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson."

"Hi, Hannah," Annabeth replied, smiling, "How do you like Camp Jupiter?"

"Oh, I love it," she said excitedly, "I've learned so much. More than even Lupa taught me!" Her excitement was contagious.

"It's good to see you, kiddo," I told her, still sitting and looking slightly up at her.

Hannah looked at me for a second and then moved forward and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Thank you," she told me, and I knew she meant for way more than just being glad of her presence.

"You're welcome," I told her and let her go. She was still smiling. Nicky made room for her on the bench we were sitting on and Hannah sat happily down next to him in time for Chiron's welcome speech. I knew from the various looks we received from our friends who had witnessed the whole thing that explanations were in order for once dinner was served.

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 **Thanks for reading!  
**

 **I am working on some new one-shots, which you should hopefully be seeing pretty soon. Be on the lookout!**


	15. Innocence

**Hello everyone! I'm here with another chapter for you. It's a bit on the short side and is really just a filler, but it's pretty cute and I hope you like it. Things will be getting more interesting soon, I promise.**

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Summer ended, like it always did, far too soon for the kids' liking. With less than a week before they would be returning to school for another year, all three of them, in a rare show of tolerance, were out in the back yard together. This time of year, the sun remained in the sky long enough for daylight to last well past seven o'clock and the yard was still brightly lit at half-past five. I stood on the deck, manning the grill where tonight's dinner cooked, and watched with half a smirk as Logan and Nicholas practiced hand-to-hand combat with each other. Having only been home from camp for a few days, the boys were still gung-ho about the new skills they'd picked up over the past months. Most of this they couldn't possibly practice in the back yard, especially with Carly present, but combat training was essentially glorified martial arts and would draw little unwanted attention should one of our neighbors notice them. Their sister, too, was safe to observe as she pleased.

Carly alternated every few minutes between watching her brothers practice, often asking them to teach her, to wandering off to do cartwheels in the grass. The boys, as a general rule, were very good about keeping the secret from her, though it was surely only a matter of time before she'd find out for herself one way or another.

Currently she was content with tumbling around the back yard and the boys were taking turns attacking each other, both obviously and necessarily pulling their punches. Nicky charged Logan and the latter, after a beautiful block and feint, locked his little brother in an arm bar, pulling him closer and bracing himself against him, before following through with a flawless judo-throw. It ended with Nicky flat in the grass, surprised but unharmed, with his brother's knee planted firmly against his chest.

Annabeth had wandered outside while Logan was mid-flip, closed the sliding door behind her, and stopped beside me now as our oldest stood up and reached down to help his little brother to his feet. "Who's that remind you of?" I asked, smirking, watching with her.

She chuckled lightly. "I'm never going to live that one down, am I?"

I laughed. "You're lucky the Romans didn't declare war the second you attacked their Praetor."

She snorted, smirking and staring out as Carly grew bored once again with her gymnastics and wandered over to watch the boys wrestle as Nicky tried to hold Logan in a headlock on the ground. The latter still had a several inches and more than a few pounds on his brother, but if the moves were done right, the size difference didn't matter much. "Their Praetor deserved to be attacked." She shook her head. "Gods, they're going to need showers tonight."

"Thanks," I snorted, ignoring the second half of her statement.

She smiled but said nothing as she continued watching the kids. I looked down and flipped the meat I was grilling. I closed the cover to let it cook some more and stepped back, watching now as Logan tried his hand at teaching his sister a simple wristlock. Annabeth's hand snaked up my arm and settled on my shoulder. She rested her chin casually atop it. "Carly asked for a puppy again today," she informed me, still comfortably close.

"Yeah?" I asked, "What did you tell her?"

She sighed. "Same thing I've been telling her. She swears up and down that she'll take care of it every day when she comes home from school, the boys too, and maybe they will, but eventually she's going to be away for the summers just like they are and the responsibility will fall on us."

I considered that for a second. "Would that be so bad?" I asked finally, turning to look sideways at her, "I know for a fact that you were dead bored the last few weeks without the boys."

She sighed, straightening. "Don't you start in on me too," she said but didn't sound all that annoyed.

"Come on, babe. It didn't make sense when the kids were little, but they aren't anymore. I think it'd be fun to have a dog."

She shook her head but appeared to fight a smile while doing so. "You're impossible," she said. She looked at me dead on then. "Don't you dare let the kids know we're actually considering this."

I raised my eyebrows. "Are we?"

"Well, you seem to be at least."

"I just think it might be fun."

"Fun for who?"

I sighed, surrendering. "Point taken."

Carly's laughter drew my attention then. She was on the ground, having had her legs swept out from under her by Nicky, who'd been showing her how and had taken her by surprise upon demonstrating.

I felt Annabeth's eyes on me as I watched and turned to look at her again. She leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "See if you can wrangle the hooligans," she said, stepping away, "I have salad to toss. Don't let them track grass inside."

"Yes, ma'am."

I watched her retreat back inside and then turned back toward the kids. With the food still requiring a few more minutes, I left it to cook and padded down the steps and out to the yard with them. Carly ran over as I approached. "Daddy," she said, "Do you know combat like the boys?"

Behind her, Logan snorted, but covered it quickly with a rush of breath as Nicky swept his leg and he went down. I smirked. "Yeah, I know some stuff."

"Does Mommy?"

"Yes, she does," I told her, picking a blade of grass from her brown hair. I turned to the boys, still wrestling with each other on the ground. "Reign it in, guys. Logan, you're pinned. Stop struggling."

"Yes!" Nicky laughed exuberantly before rolling off his brother.

"Wash up for dinner," I said, "The table needs to be set."

The four of us set off back toward the house. Carly walked beside me while the boys stayed two steps ahead, laughing and brushing grass off themselves as they went. Nicky, whose hand-to-hand combat skills had improved greatly over the summer, seemed extremely pleased with his victory over his brother.

"Did you learn to fight at camp like Logan and Nicky?" Carly asked, looking up at me as we neared the steps.

 _Yes._ "We learned _self defense_ ," I told her, "Which is what the boys were doing. That's different from fighting." It was true, for the most part. In reality, it was more complicated than that, but Carly didn't need to know beyond that right now.

"When do I get to go to camp?" she asked.

"Soon," I answered. There was no question about that. She was already eight years old. If we were lucky, she had maybe two more years, but we usually weren't.

"Next year?"

"Maybe."

"Please? I'll be good," she insisted, her green eyes wide and earnest, "I promise."

I sighed lightly and smiled wistfully down at her. "I know. We'll see."

She looked less than satisfied with that answer, but nodded as we continued toward the house. I wanted to give Carly everything she wanted, but her safety was more important. I didn't know how we'd managed to go this long without her learning the truth, especially with the boys so actively involved in everything now, but I was happy to play it out as long as possible.

Logan and Nicky led the way inside, greeted by Annabeth's commands of "Wipe your feet!" Carly followed after them while I stopped to take the food off the grill and bring it inside. I left it on the table and joined my family in the kitchen. I was met with my wife's smile. Her gray eyes sparkled and I knew she was happy to have noise in the house and all three kids under one roof again.

She set the boys the task of setting the table after ensuring their hands were clean. Breakfast and lunch were generally eaten in the kitchen, but with all of us together for dinner, there was more space in the dining room. When they had disappeared around the corner, Annabeth looked at me while supervising Carly as she helped stir something on the stove. "Sue called before," she informed me, "She and John are taking Hannah to the zoo tomorrow and wanted to extend the invitation to Nicky."

"That was nice of them," I said, "Did you tell him yet?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. You're okay with it, right?"

"Sure. Are you not?"

"I'm fine with it. He'll love it."

I smirked. "I doubt there's much he wouldn't love as long as Hannah's involved." If those two had been inseparable before, in the days since both returned home, they'd been all but joined at the hip.

She laughed. "You're awful."

"I want to go to the zoo too," Carly said, looking between her mother and me like a great injustice had occurred.

"Maybe we'll go soon," Annabeth told her.

"No, I want to go tomorrow with Nicky and Hannah."

"You can't, honey," she explained to her, clearly realizing her mistake in bringing up the subject in our daughter's presence. "Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence didn't invite you. Hannah is Nicky's friend."

"She can be my friend too," Carly protested, her eyebrows narrowed stubbornly.

"It doesn't work like that, kiddo," I said.

"We'll do something else tomorrow," Annabeth told her, "You and Logan both need some new clothes for school. Want to go shopping?"

The eight-year old shrugged unenthusiastically, obviously feeling gypped.

Annabeth sighed but turned away from her now. "Here," she said, turning off the stove and handing me the pot of rice that had been cooking atop it, "Can you bring this to the table?"

"Sure."

Logan and Nicky had finished with their task and sat in their regular spots now. Logan was grinning and laughing lightly as he watched his brother, who was in full-blown hysterics. I stopped in the doorway and raised my eyebrows. "What's going on in here?"

"Nothing," Logan said, smiling. Nicky laughed harder.

"Nothing must be pretty funny," I said, smirking and continuing forward now to set the food on the table.

"I told Nicky the story you told me in the car the other day," Logan explained, glancing sideways at his brother, who was still in stitches, "About your first day at camp, with the Ares cabin."

"I can't… believe you—did that," the twelve-year old managed between peals of laughter. It seemed the harder he tried to calm down, the more he snickered.

I laughed a little myself now. "Yeah, well. It probably would have been cooler if it was on purpose."

"You soaked them," Nicky gasped, "with t-toilet water!" He collapsed in giggles once more, and his laughter was contagious.

"Shhh," Logan managed, prodding his brother's arm. I saw why a second later as, behind me, Carly walked into the room, followed by Annabeth, who carried a bowl of salad which she placed on the table with the rest of the meal.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Logan told Nicky a funny story," I explained, and added, "About me," which narrowed it down to only a few hundred possibilities, but she seemed to understand.

"Tell me!" Carly insisted, taking her seat next to Logan.

"When you're older," I told her as Nicky chuckled again.

Carly made a face. "I hate being little," she grumbled.

"I'm sorry," I said, and then made a face at her until she smiled. With every day that passed, the kids got older and things grew more and more interesting, but for now, all we could do was take things one day at a time and deal with each obstacle as it came. And I was personally glad for the time Carly still had left, short as it probably was.

"Okay," Annabeth said, sitting down next to me, "That's enough. Let's eat before everything gets cold."

The boys in particular had no issue with this plan, and the topic shifted to mundane things as we made it though another day of life at the Jackson residence.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!  
**


	16. Actions and Reactions

**Hey guys!**

 **I have a lot planned for the next few updates and chapter 17 is already underway, but I wanted something like this to happen first, so I wrote this up really quick. I'm hoping the whole situation doesn't seem too rushed, as I thought about drawing it out more but didn't really want to make two chapters out of it. Hopefully it flows okay this way. If not, I'm sorry. More to come shortly, but for now, enjoy!**

* * *

"I understand it can be a difficult adjustment, starting in a new school, at the bottom of the so-called social totem pole, but there is _no_ excuse for such reprehensible behavior. I really have no words. Your son's debacle today caused hundreds of dollars worth of damage and pending the charges that may or may not be pressed against him by the other student's family, he could be looking at worse consequences to come. In the meantime, however, we cannot allow…" Amelia Carlos, principal of Edgewood High School, continued speaking in what I thought was an extremely patronizing tone, but I had officially stopped listening. It was pretty obvious what would be coming next, and I'd heard the spiel enough times myself to be able to make her speech for her.

I was watching my son. Seated on Annabeth's other side, his hands in his lap and his eyes boring a hole in the carpet beneath us, I'd never seen him look so small.

Today was a Tuesday, the kids' second day of school, and Annabeth had taken a call just after eleven in the morning from Logan's school. I normally would have been at work, but I had been given the day off after an 'incident' that had occurred the day before, during which the oxygen tank I was using malfunctioned and deprived me of fresh air while diving for algal samples in the East River. This would have been a far greater problem had I been unable to breathe underwater, though Mike, my fellow diver and the one who'd noticed the issue, did not know this. I'd have been none the wiser had it not been for his panicked cries through the communication device in my ear. It was due to some exceptional acting on my part that my secret was not blown right there.

Anyway, I was given a few days off to recover from the trauma and had been home, washing dishes from breakfast that morning, when the call came. "That was Logan's principal," Annabeth said, walking into the kitchen and looking concerned, "Something happened. We need to head over there." So we did.

According to Ms. Carlos, Logan had, in the time between first and second period, gotten into an altercation with another student at Edgewood High. Things got physical between them and the fight, which, according to witnesses, Logan started, resulted in numerous injuries for the other student, as well as a good deal of damage to a classroom. Details were apparently sketchy as to what exactly happened between the two, but a computer was damaged and a small fire erupted but was doused before it could do much more than scorch a desktop. Ironically, the sprinkler system had turned on before the smoke and heat detectors picked up anything, and the water that sprayed was, by some obvious miracle, centralized only to the desk where the flames had been present. Go figure.

Edgewood was appalled at the behavior and Logan was facing, at the very least, indefinite suspension.

No one seemed particularly interested in Logan's side of the story, but then they couldn't know the truth anyway.

Ms. Carlos, for the moment anyway, seemed finished with her rant. She eyed Logan with distaste. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, young man?"

He looked up at her and then briefly at Annabeth and me before studying the floor again. "No ma'am," he answered.

"There you have it," the principal said, looking at us now.

Annabeth glanced briefly at me before meeting her eyes. "Ms. Carlos, I'm so sorry this happened," she said, "But is there any way this—"

"There was no misunderstanding, Mrs. Jackson," Ms. Carlos interrupted unpleasantly, "My faculty knows what they're doing. I'm afraid this was all Logan. Quite frankly, you and your husband should start exploring other options for his education, as it's unlikely he will be welcomed back to Edgewood after his suspension is over."

My stomach dropped. Beside me, Annabeth looked suddenly angry. "I'm sorry," she said, "Are you telling me that decision's already been made?"

"Nothing is official yet, but as I said, it's unlikely that Logan will be allowed back." She seemed less than inclined to go to bat on his behalf.

"So you're expelling him," she summed up, "For a fight." I was slightly surprised Annabeth seemed so upset, given both our histories with school growing up, but then I guess this was the first time this kind of thing had happened to one of our kids. And this Ms. Carlos woman wasn't exactly being nice either.

"Mrs. Jackson, it is not my responsibility if you've raised your child to believe it is ever okay to hit another student," the principal told her coolly now, "But I happen to run a school where actions have consequences." Annabeth raised her eyebrows at this and I knew things would not end well if this continued on much longer.

"Okay," I said, speaking up, "This is getting nowhere. Ms. Carlos, if you're done disciplining my son and insulting my wife, I'd like to take them home now. Is there anything else we need to do here?"

She turned her glare on me now, but frankly I'd faced worse. "No," she said briskly, "Go on and leave. We'll be sending you a bill."

"You do that," I told her, standing and leading my family to the door. Annabeth met my eyes in thanks as we left.

"I can't believe that woman," she said as we stepped outside.

"Everybody hates her," Logan said quietly, walking along beside us. I believed it.

I waited until we reached the car to bring it up. "So," I said, looking from behind the wheel at Logan, who slid in behind Annabeth, "Want to tell us what really happened?"

He sighed. "It was a giant. A Laistrygonian, I guess. He was pretending to be this big senior. I didn't notice him at first, but I guess he was waiting for me to walk by. He grabbed me and pulled me into that classroom. I'm lucky I had this on me," he raised his wrist, upon which was the bronze bracelet that seconded as a sword when needed. "I stabbed his arm and he flung me into the teacher's computer. And then a desk was on fire. I put it out but…" He paused. "Oh my gods," he groaned, putting his head in his hands.

"Logan, did you kill the giant?" Annabeth asked. He nodded, head still down. "Then that's all that matters."

"I got _expelled_ ," he muttered into his hands, possibly fighting tears. He was obviously extremely bothered by this. Straight-A student, teacher's pet, winner of his sixth grade spelling bee and runner up in the science fair a year later, Logan had always thrived in school, despite his status as a powerful half-blood legacy and much to the chagrin of his brother. He was not the type of kid who got expelled from school, though frankly it was a wonder he'd made it all the way to ninth grade without anything major happening. He was past due, unfortunately.

"It happens, bud," I told him, "You can join the club." He wasn't the first even in his own generation. I remembered Piper telling us of a near miss with Isabella the year before, and I knew Leo and Calypso's girls had already been through a couple schools, though that was probably as much for their likeness to their dad as it was to actual monstrous activity.

"I don't wanna join the club," Logan muttered into his hands, unamused.

Annabeth sighed and reached a hand behind her to set a hand on his knee. "Honey, it's okay. Really."

"No it's not!" he said, looking up now. He wasn't crying, but he wasn't far from either. Tears filled his eyes and he blinked violently against them. "It's the second day of school and I got kicked out! I'll have to go somewhere else and I was just getting good at navigating _here_. And all my friends are here. They're all gonna think I did something bad."

"That's just how it is, champ," I said. Unsurprisingly, this seemed to help very little.

"You'll make new friends, Logan," Annabeth said, "And anyone who really knows you won't think that."

"Mom, I got _expelled._ "

"I know," she sighed, turning back around in the passenger seat. I met her eyes and then pulled out of the parking spot. We drove in silence for a minute before Annabeth spoke up again. "I know this sucks, honey, but you're going to be okay."

Logan, staring dejectedly out the window, said nothing.

* * *

The next few days were hard. Logan was in a bad mood and no one seemed very able to help him, though my mom, who showed up that night armed with homemade cookies, came close. It didn't help at all that Carly was incredibly curious about the event and pounded Logan with questions he couldn't answer. Keeping her safe and ignorant was becoming a harder task by the day.

The other high school in town was about a twenty-minute drive from our house. On Thursday, Annabeth drove over, after almost an hour on the phone the day before with the school district and Edgewood High, to pick up paperwork and start the enrollment process. Logan's expulsion was finalized two days after his initial suspension, but she faced surprisingly little resistance in moving him over to Northridge High School. She faxed everything over the next day and Logan was set to start there the following Monday. An appointment was also set for later that afternoon for the three of us to head over and meet with Mr. Harris, the principal of the new school.

I left work a little early to make the meeting on time. Nicky was already at Hannah's, as he usually was when she wasn't over our house, and her parents were happy to take Carly for an hour or two to allow us to go with Logan.

Northridge High was both smaller and newer than it's rival, Edgewood, and while the majority of the office staff had already gone home by four in the afternoon, the one woman we did meet, who Annabeth had apparently spoken with on the phone earlier, greeted us warmly and led us to the small principal's office. "Mr. Harris just stepped out for a minute," she told us, "Feel free to take a seat. He'll be with you in just a minute." We thanked her and she left as we sat down across from the desk, where three chairs waited, Logan in between Annabeth and I.

She reached up and ran a loving hand through his thick hair. "I know this isn't what you want," she said gently, "But try to look a little less miserable, okay?"

He took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm trying." And he was. He was still clearly mortified at having been kicked out of a school at all, but I could tell he was genuinely trying to make the best of this, even if he wasn't exactly thrilled. He'd be fine. He was smart and charismatic, and just generally likeable. His biggest obstacle now, other than the weight of the new stain on his otherwise perfect record, was his own hubris.

We didn't wait long at all before Mr. Harris showed up. "I'm sorry, guys," he said, walking in and stopping beside his desk, "I was dealing with a paper jam and lost track of time."

"No problem," I told him.

He stretched out a hand and shook ours in turn. "I'm Patrick Harris," he introduced himself, a strange impishness in his smile. "It's nice to meet you." I glanced quickly at Annabeth. Something about his name seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it. She seemed to be thinking along the same lines, but she didn't say anything. Patrick Harris walked around his desk and sat casually behind it. He was fair-skinned and thin. His hair had a slightly red tint to it. I didn't recognize him. "So," he said, leaning back in his chair and looking at Logan. "I hear you'll be joining our ranks next week."

"Yes, sir," Logan answered halfheartedly.

The principal studied him for a moment and then looked between all of us. "I don't normally do this," he said, "Meet with you all before a student starts here. But given the situation I thought it might not be a bad idea." Well, I thought, so much for the past not following him here.

"Logan's a good kid," I said before I could stop myself. Mr. Harris spoke up before I could say anything else, which was probably good. Oddly, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"I'm sure he is," he said, "Though you'd be surprised how often I hear that from parents. We all think our kids are great." I studied the man. Logan shifted beside me, obviously uncomfortable. The principal's eyes fell on him again. "I had a whole speech planned," he continued, speaking to him, "when I first heard about you. About the expectations we have for our students here and how certain actions are not tolerated." Logan seemed to sink lower. I was getting mad now. Did this guy really think this was helping anything?

"But given the circumstances, I don't really think I need to," Harris added, smirking now. Logan looked up at him at that. I narrowed my eyes, surprised. "Since I'm guessing it wasn't actually another student you fought with at Edgewood."

Logan blinked. "I… I don't…"

Harris smiled. "I know who you are, Logan." He glanced at Annabeth and then me. "I know who all of you are."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "You're a half-blood," she said, "I knew I recognized you from somewhere."

He smiled wider and nodded. "Rick Harris, son of Hermes, at your service."

"No way," Logan breathed, staring at the man.

"Way," he told him, "I was ten when I first made it to Camp Half-Blood. That was the same year your parents left for college." He glanced between Annabeth and me now, "It's okay if you don't recognize me. We never interacted much."

"I remember you," Annabeth said, "I think we played Capture the Flag together once. When we visited on a break, I guess. Did you go by Ricky back then?"

He chuckled. "Not exactly. But everyone there called me it anyway."

I vaguely remembered now. He'd been on the smaller side, with much redder hair. "Have you been at the peace celebrations?" I asked.

"Not many, no. And not recently. I don't think we've ever formally met. I was too intimidated to talk to you the few times I had the chance," he chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"You wouldn't believe how annoying that gets," I told him, and he laughed for real.

"I'm over it now. Mostly." He grinned. "Anyway, you guys aren't here to talk about me. I figured out what must have happened, Logan, when I saw your parents' names and I wanted to get you in here. I'm guessing you were attacked at school, right?" Logan nodded. "I saw your grades and your records. You've got a lot going for you, kid, and I want you to know you're not alone here. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me."

"Thank you," Logan said, still sounding surprised, as well as relieved and thrilled.

"Sure thing. I mean, you'll still have to do your homework and everything, I can't get you out of that, but if any monsters come calling, which they probably will the older you get, that I think I can help you with. Even if all I can do is manipulate the Mist and help you clean up the mess. But I don't want you to have this problem again. Sound good?"

Logan blinked, and the shook his head, exhaling a laugh. I got the feeling he still couldn't believe his fortune. "Yeah. That sounds really good."

"Assuming you don't _actually_ beat up any of my students." Logan laughed. "We might have a bit of a problem then, despite how much I already like you."

"You don't have to worry about that, sir."

"I thought so. Don't call me 'sir' though. During school hours, you'll have to call me 'Mr. Harris' just so no one gets the wrong idea, but in private you can call me 'Rick' for all I care, as long as it doesn't get too confusing. Otherwise, Mr. Harris works too. But no 'sir.' Too formal for me."

Logan smiled. "Okay."

Rick smiled. "I want to give you and your parents a tour so you'll have some idea where to go when you come in on Monday, but I really don't have too much more to tell you here." He looked between us.

Annabeth shook her head a little, smiling. "You've been more than helpful."

"That's what I like to hear," Rick said, moving to stand, "Come on. I'll show you guys around."

Half an hour later, after a quick tour of the school, during which Rick explained to us some of Northridge's programs and activities, I walked with Annabeth and a far happier Logan back to our car. "So what do you think?" I asked her playfully as I unlocked the doors, "Like him better than Ms. Carlos?"

Annabeth snorted while Logan replied, "Is that even a question?"

"I think," Annabeth said as she sat down in the front seat next to me, "as long as Rick is still principal, we might just have to send all the kids here."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!  
**


	17. Change of Heart

**Hi, everyone! Another update for you. I really enjoyed writing this one and I hope you like reading it!**

* * *

The puppy conversation, unbeknownst to our kids, continued on throughout the following months. The days grew colder and shorter and, slowly but surely, Annabeth seemed more open to the idea. Though it was not without some effort on my part.

"Who's going to train it?" she asked one night in early October, lying next to me in bed, "The kids are gone all day and we have jobs, and puppies are like babies. They need constant attention."

"So we won't get a puppy," I said, "We can get one that's a little older and already trained."

"Then it won't know us. What if it's mean? And just because it's trained doesn't make it well behaved. It could chew things or steal food. And dogs shed, Percy. Like I don't have enough to clean already with three kids."

I changed the subject pretty soon after, but wasn't ready to drop the idea just yet. Growing up a half-blood in an apartment in New York City, owning a dog had never really been an option. I'd had Mrs. O'Leary for a little while, but she wasn't exactly a house pet and Nico had all but adopted her after I'd left for college. Manhattan had been home right up until Nicky was born, and the topic had never really come up between Annabeth and me. After that, the boys were young and then Carly was born and things were crazy enough without adding to it. But I really did like the idea of getting the kids a dog now and the more I considered it, the better the possibility seemed. To me anyway.

The conversations continued. It was hard to say how much progress was made.

A week later we were at it again, jogging side-by-side on a morning run. We'd passed a lady walking a beagle and the topic was brought up again.

"Dogs poop, Percy," Annabeth said now as we rounded a corner, "A lot. You mean to tell me the kids are actually going to clean up after it?"

"They insist they will. They're old enough to be held to that."

She looked at me dubiously. "Have you _met_ our kids? Logan still gives me a hard time about putting his clean clothes away."

"C'mon, Annabeth. You can't tell me you haven't thought about it at least a little bit."

"Of course I have, Seaweed Brain. I want them to be happy as much as you do, but someone has to be logical about this."

I gave half a smirk. "You're nothing if not logical, honey."

She shot me a look. "What if a monster attacks? I doubt the Mist works on dogs, but even if it does, it would see _something._ Dogs are protective. It could get hurt trying to fight it off, or worse, get in the way and lead to one of us getting hurt." Try as I might, I had no response to this, and without allowing me time to come up with one, she picked up the pace and left me to catch up.

The next time Carly asked if we could get a dog, Annabeth gave her the usual answer and sent her out to get the boys for dinner. She caught my gaze once the eight-year old had gone and sighed, "Just don't."

The first time she broached the subject on her own, I knew we were getting somewhere. The kids were out of school for Thanksgiving break and we were driving to my parents' for dinner after dropping the boys off at camp for the week. Carly was asleep in the back seat. Annabeth, who had been staring quietly out the window, sighed lightly and looked over at me. "I'm not agreeing to anything," she began, "But if we were to get the kids a dog, it would have to be a real breed. I don't want one of those yappy rat-things."

I laughed, conscious of our daughter sleeping behind me. "Works for me."

* * *

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Annabeth said as we got out of the car and walked together through the cold, mostly empty parking lot.

"Honestly, neither can I."

She made a face at me. "We're _just_ looking."

"I know."

It was a Thursday in mid-December. Christmas was in just over two weeks; the city was crowded with tourists and shoppers, and the roads in Manhattan were even harder than normal to navigate. As she did most Thursdays, Annabeth had gone into the office today and I'd picked her up at the firm and took her for an early lunch. We'd made the decision to come here the day before, but I was really surprised she actually followed through with it. I was excited.

The sound of barking dogs was plain the second we opened the door. My experience with animal shelters was pretty much limited exclusively to the depressing commercials that occasionally played on TV. The place was nothing special, really, with it's plain walls and vaguely animal smell that clung to everything, but the woman behind the front desk smiled at us as we stepped inside. Her nametag identified her as Ashley. "Hi," she said, "How are you guys?"

"We're doing pretty good," I told her, "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. How can I help you today?"

I glanced at Annabeth and answered, "We're thinking about getting our kids a dog and thought this might be a good place to start."

"We're just looking," Annabeth added.

"No problem," Ashley said, "If you guys can follow me, I'll take you back and let you look at some of our residents."

"That'd be great," I said.

"Right this way," she said, gesturing for us to follow her as she led us through a door, "Anything in particular you're looking for?"

"Something family friendly," Annabeth told her, "And fairly clean."

"Did you want a puppy, or something a little older?"

"Well, we don't want anything too old, but if you have some that are somewhat trained, that would be great."

"Absolutely," Ashley said, and led us partway down a hallway and to a door on the right. She opened it to reveal a room lined with large chain-link cages and containing dogs of all ages. Each held anywhere from a single dog up to groups of three or four. Many moved forward to get a closer look at us, tails wagging. Some barked. Some slept. One, in a cage by itself, remained in a far corner, looking scared, and I had a feeling it was a new arrival. "Feel free to look around. Most of the animals in here are friendly, but don't stick your hands through the cages. Let me know if you want a closer look at any."

We thanked her and moved forward, looking around. I glanced at Annabeth. Her gray eyes scanned the dogs' faces. She looked almost sad. It wasn't hard to guess why. There had to be twenty-five dogs in here and none of them had homes.

I approached a cage that held three adult dogs that stood looking at us expectantly. I reached a hand out and held it an inch away from the cage. One of them, a dark-colored lab, growled at me. Another one, a longhaired thing, hesitantly licked my fingers between the wires. Ashley stepped beside me. "That's Millie," she said, "She's a sweetie."

"How long do you normally keep animals here?" Annabeth asked, watching Millie, still skittish, stick her tongue between the cage again. Her gaze was soft but noncommittal.

"It depends," Ashley replied, "Most, thankfully, aren't here very long. Average is a few months. Puppies tend to go sooner."

Annabeth nodded acknowledgement and turned to another cage. I glanced at Millie again and, with a quick glance at Ashley to ensure her back was turned, I reached a finger in and pet the dog's snout before turning and following after my wife. She and Ashley stood before another cage, two down from Millie's, watching a yellow lab sleep inside. "How old are your kids?" Ashley was asking.

"Fourteen, twelve, and eight."

"Jack, here, is five. That might be a little older than what you're looking for, but he's a great dog."

"And this one?" She asked, pointing to a medium-sized spotted dog in the next cage over, which came closer as she approached, its tail wagging slowly as it considered her. It shared a cage with a boxer—maybe—who lay on the floor of the cage, but lifted his head expectantly at her.

"That one came to us without a name," Ashley answered, "We call him Oscar. He's a little over a year old." I came to stand beside Annabeth, but the second I came close, Oscar barked and quickly retreated, his tail between his legs and his head down. Ashley sighed. "His last owner beat him. He doesn't really like men."

Annabeth looked like her heart broke a little to hear this. "So much for that," I said, slightly disappointed. At my voice, Oscar's roommate stood up and clambered over. It stuck its nose between the chain link.

"Who's this?" I asked, holding my hand up to the cage like I had with Millie. The probably-boxer sniffed me.

"This is Brooklyn," Ashley said, "She's a cutie. You can pet her if you want. She won't hurt you." I stroked her head with my finger through the cage.

Annabeth reached over and allowed Brooklyn to sniff her before petting her too. "You keep males and females together?" she asked.

"In some cases, yes," said Ashley, "All our animals are fixed prior to going up for adoption and some dogs tend to do better with the opposite sex. Less territorial that way."

Brooklyn licked Annabeth's finger and she smiled. "She's cute," I said, "What breed is she?"

"She's a boxer," Ashley said, confirming my earlier guess, "Purebred as far as we can tell. Very friendly. They love attention. Great family dogs."

"How old is she?"

"She is… ten months? I'll have to double check. I can open the cage if you want to see her."

I looked to Annabeth for her thoughts and found her attention was no longer on Brooklyn, but on a cage at the end of the line. She touched my arm and then wandered away, not waiting to see if I followed. I did, of course.

The end cage held four dogs, who looked younger than most of the others we'd seen so far. They weren't puppies, but they clearly weren't full-grown yet either. They all clustered near the cage entrance. Two of them barked excitedly. All wagged their tails. Annabeth was focused on just one though.

He stood on the end of the line, tongue hanging out as he looked at her. He looked a bit like a golden retriever, but his fur was darker, almost red, and it looked very thin in some places, like it was growing back after somehow being removed. Even so, there was something about him. He just looked like a good dog.

"What's this one?" Annabeth asked, letting him sniff her through the cage, even while the others jostled him to say hello too.

"He's a golden setter," Ashley answered her, "Golden retriever and red setter. Six months old. Fully trained and very friendly."

"Does he have a name?" I asked.

"Ollie."

"Can we see him?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah, of course," Ashley said, producing a key ring. She unlocked the gate and followed us inside, locking us in. The four dogs swarmed us as we entered, Ollie included, though he seemed more hesitant than the rest. Annabeth crouched down in front of him, petting a young lab that came toward her, but focused on the golden setter.

"What's wrong with his fur?" she asked, running her fingers over the thin spots.

"It was burned off," Ashley answered, "His previous owners' house caught on fire in the middle of the night. It was a father and a little girl. The father didn't make it out and Ollie stayed with the little girl until the fire department came. He nearly died of smoke inhalation, but he barked until firemen could find them. The little girl, I think, went to live with relatives but they couldn't take Ollie, so he wound up here."

I stared at Ollie, this dog who was barely more than a puppy. He was a hero. I scratched his head. Annabeth knelt on the floor and Ollie laid his head in her lap. She stroked his ear, apparently unconcerned with the dog hair that was now all over her slacks. "Is he healthy now?" she asked.

"I can check his records, but as far as I know, there wasn't any lasting damage. It'll be another few weeks until his fur grows back to normal, but he's completely fine otherwise. He's available for adoption if you want him."

Annabeth met my eyes and I knew her will was quickly crumbling. This dog, for whatever reason, had caught her eye before we knew anything about him. Now that we did, I thought he was just about perfect. She took a deep breath and then looked at Ashley again. "If we did decide to adopt him, how long would that take?" I glanced at Annabeth but didn't argue. We'd certainly come a long way from 'just looking.'

"Well, you'll have to fill out an application, which will need to be approved before you can move forward. We're busier than normal this time of the year, but depending how fast you get approved, you should be able to take him home as early as Saturday."

"Does filling out an application automatically mean a commitment on our part?"

Ashley shook her head. "You can back out right up until you sign the papers to adopt, which you would do when you come to take him home."

"And he's up to date with shots and everything?"

"Yup. He shouldn't need anything until he's a year old."

"Okay," she nodded and then looked back down at Ollie. Then she met my eyes. "What do you think?"

"I think he's pretty perfect."

"I know." She looked at him again. "I can't believe I'm saying this," she met my eyes again, "But should we fill out an application?"

I shrugged. "Might as well. We can still change our minds if we do."

"Okay."

"Did you guys want to stay with Ollie a few more minutes before doing that?" Ashley asked.

I glanced at my watch. "We can't. We both have to get back to work." I glanced at Annabeth, "As it is, we'll probably already be late getting back."

"I understand. The paperwork shouldn't take too long. I'll get you out of here as fast as I can."

"Thank you," Annabeth said, moving to stand but looking like she'd rather not as Ollie moved off of her and eyed her now, looking betrayed. With a sigh, she stroked his head one last time.

"See ya, boy," I said, petting his head in farewell before following.

Fifteen minutes later, our application for adoption was filled out and we walked together through the cold to the parking lot. Someone from the shelter would be calling us with a decision within the next few days. "I can't believe I let you talk me into coming here," Annabeth said, smiling lightly.

"I can't believe you actually liked one. I wasn't expecting you to."

"Neither was I. Something about him just seemed right though. And he's fully trained, which is a huge plus."

I smiled, getting in behind the wheel. "The kids are going to be thrilled."

"The _kids_ had better never ask for anything again."

I snorted. "Good luck with that."

"Yeah, I know."

There was a short pause, and then I said, "This will be good, hon."

"You're probably right. I just overthink everything."

"I know. I love you anyway."

She snorted. "Thanks." She glanced at the dashboard. "I'm going to be late."

I shrugged. "You could just take the rest of the day. The kids are in school for a few more hours. We could hang out." I grinned. "Go Ollie shopping."

Annabeth smiled and rolled her eyes. "Seaweed Brain," she said, "Shut up and drive."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! And to my fellow Americans, have a happy fourth of July!  
**


	18. Man's Best Friend

**Hello! Happy Sunday. Here is chapter 18!**

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Annabeth's family had a dog when she was little. A Doberman named Max. Frederick had adopted him years before she was born and the big dog had been her best friend as a little girl. Max was old though, and he died when she was four. It was devastating for her.

She hadn't owned a dog since, despite her fondness for Cerberus. Until now. And apprehensive as she may have been initially about adopting one into our family, she couldn't have convinced me she wasn't excited now if she'd tried.

Four days after first submitting an application for adoption, we were back at the shelter, filling out the last of the paperwork to bring Ollie home. Annabeth had spent the morning shopping for him, as we had still yet to tell the kids what was going on. They were in their last few days of school before winter break and we would all have the time off to spend with the dog before our normal schedules started back up again. My mom was with them now, having handled pickups for us today. She called a few minutes before we'd arrived, laughing at their collective cluelessness. The surprise seemed to be going according to plan.

Ashley was here again, helping us sort through all the paperwork—more than I was expecting honestly. It took more than a few minutes to get everything in order, but when finally the last form was signed and the check was written up, Ashley smiled. "Alright," she said, paper clipping everything together in a file, "I believe you guys are all set. I'll go get Ollie for you."

"Great," I told her, "Thanks a lot."

She smiled. "I'll be right back with him." She walked around the desk and disappeared down the hall she'd led us down a few days earlier. She was gone for a few minutes. An elderly woman walked in and was helped by another employee; he greeted her and led her back to look at cats.

We waited. I wrapped an arm around Annabeth's waist. She wore a small smile and had Olllie's new collar and leash in hand. "Someone's excited," I murmured, smirking.

Her smile grew. "A little."

"So this means you're not mad at me for bringing you here last week, right?"

Still smiling, she replied, "Ask me in a month when the kids lose interest in taking care of him."

I gave a laugh. "I think they'll be alright."

Ashley returned a minute later with Ollie's in tow. The little golden setter wagged his tail slightly as she walked with him. Annabeth's smile grew as they drew near. "Here he is!" Ashley sang, "All ready to go."

Annabeth crouched down before him. "Hi, boy," she said, scratching his ears. Ollie's tail wagged faster.

I bent down beside her and pat him too. "Ready to go home, buddy?" I asked. I highly doubted he understood anything, but he sure looked excited. Together, we clipped the new collar around his neck and hooked the leash to it.

"Is there anything else we need to do?" Annabeth asked Ashley, standing up now. I stayed on the floor for an extra few seconds, scratching Ollie's head. He licked my wrist and I couldn't help but smile.

"Nope," Ashley answered, "Your paperwork is all filled out and you paid already so you guys are free to go."

"Hear that, Ollie?" I said, standing up, "You ready to go home?" His tail wagged in reply. Smirking, I looked to Ashley. "Thanks for everything."

"No problem," she replied, "Thank _you_ for adopting from us. Enjoy him."

"We will," Annabeth said.

"Have a good one, guys," she called after us as we made our way to the door.

"You too," I told her, holding the door open for Annabeth. Ollie followed her through it as much as the leash allowed.

It took a minute of persuasion before the dog complied and jumped in the backseat, but not long after, we were pulling out of the parking lot and into the New York traffic.

"So how do we want to play this?" I asked twenty minutes later, taking the highway exit in our town. "Do we just walk in the house with him?"

Annabeth, in the passenger seat, rested her elbow on the center console and scratched Ollie's neck. He stood in the space of floor between the front seat and the back, with his head up in between us. I highly doubted he'd be able to comfortably fit like that once he grew a little more, but for now he seemed quite happy with the arrangement. He panted regularly in my ear. "I don't know," she answered, "Maybe we should have your mom bring them outside. That way then can all find out together."

"Why wouldn't they find out together if we brought him in?"

"Well if they're not all in the same room…"

I considered that. "Okay, then maybe one of us goes in and rounds them up and then the other brings him in."

"Why don't we just call ahead and have her bring them all out when we get there?"

"Yeah, we could do that too."

Annabeth called my mom when we were five minutes out and asked her to bring the kids outside. We were in our neighborhood now and I was getting excited.

"Are you ready to meet them, Ollie?" Annabeth said to the dog. At the sound of his name, his tail began wagging, thumping repeatedly against the back seat, "Are you? They're going to be beside themselves. They're going to say we're the best parents ever and they're not going to fight with each other or misbehave at all while they're home on winter break. It's going to be wonderful."

I snorted. She lost it a second later and laughed. "Good luck with that," I told her.

She shrugged. "I can dream. Can't I, Ollie? Tell him. Tell Daddy I can dream." Ollie's tail thumped harder. He inched closer to her face, sniffing, she scrunched her nose adorably at the hesitant kiss he placed there. She turned back around in her seat as we neared our driveway, laughing lightly, and I knew the two of them were going to get along just fine.

* * *

As promised, my mom had all three kids outside and waiting when we pulled in. Even as I parked the car, I could tell they were studying us intently. They hadn't seen him yet. Ollie, however, had seen them. He moved away from Annabeth now and jumped up on the back seat to look out the window. He was far more obvious in that position and it didn't take long at all for the kids to take notice. I knew the moment it happened. Logan's lips formed the words, "No way."

Annabeth opened her door in time for us to hear Nicky's question, "Is that a _dog_?" Ollie moved forward at her movement, apparently anxious to get out of the car and meet these new people. Carly was already running over. The boys, an instant behind her, caught up fast.

Oliie jumped into the passenger seat once Annabeth stepped out. He stood on it now; tail wagging as they drew near. "Come on, Ollie," she said, holding the door open. Ollie jumped down. Carly squealed. She and Nicky rushed forward to meet him. The dog licked their faces in greeting. I got out and walked around to where my family stood on the other side of the car. My mom had followed the kids over and now stood beside Annabeth, smiling.

"Is he ours?" Logan was asking his mother.

"Yes," she told him, smiling.

He laughed in surprise, "No way," even as he moved forward to pet Ollie with his brother and sister.

There'd been some concern on the way home that Ollie might be overwhelmed with so many people gathered around him at once, but the golden-red dog seemed happier with the three of them than he had even with us.

"What's his name?" Nicky asked, looking over at us, "You said… Dolly?" I laughed and corrected him. Ollie sat in the middle of the three of them, basking in the attention. Unsurprisingly, our surprise was a hit. They spent a few minutes playing with their new pet. Ollie wagged his tail and offered wet kisses all around. Offhand, I didn't know the last time all three young Jacksons had smiled so wide.

"And he's ours?" Carly asked, looking at us with both hands still on Ollie's back, repeating her bother's earlier words like she didn't quite believe them, "Really?"

"Really," Annabeth answered, smiling beside me.

"We're keeping him?"

"We're keeping him."

She gave another excited squeal and hugged the new dog once more before standing and crossing to us. She threw an arm around each of us. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You're welcome," Annabeth answered her, smiling widely herself. I knew, even if she still did hold any reservations about bringing Ollie home, they were likely paling now in light of the kids' reactions.

"What changed?" Logan asked, looking up at us from his position, crouched on the ground before Ollie. Carly returned to her post beside him. "We've wanted a dog forever."

"Yeah, but you always said no," Nicky added, a slight accusation in his tone.

"Yeah, well," Annabeth said with a wry glance shot my way, "You're old enough to take care of him now. And Dad convinced me."

"Thanks, Dad," Logan said with a grin. Nicky and Carly nodded and agreed similarly.

I smirked but figured now was as good a time as any to lay down the ground rules. "You're welcome. Now, listen. You heard your mom. We got Ollie for you and you need to take care of him. That means feeding, walking, and cleaning up after him is on you, not us. He's your responsibility." Annabeth nodded beside me.

"We'll take care of him, Daddy," Carly assured me. The boys nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Annabeth said in a way that made me think she still didn't put a whole lot of stock in that answer, but she'd take it anyway. "Well, the trunk is full of stuff for Ollie. You can start by unloading it." My mom, standing on her other side, laughed.

The three stood obediently though and made their way around to the back of the car. Ollie followed behind them. He sniffed excitedly at the dog bed and treats as they were pulled from the trunk. "Look, Ollie," Nicky said, producing a blue rope toy from one of the bags. He held it down to him, "You want this? Look." Ollie sniffed the toy and gingerly took it from his hand. He played with it for a moment but quickly abandoned it in favor of rejoining the three at the trunk, very interested in everything else going on at the moment. Carly and Nicholas walked away with supplies in hand. Logan picked up a bag of dog food and, in stepping away from the car, walked backward right into him.

"Watch out!" my mom warned a second too late. Ollie slipped out from behind him with grace but Logan almost went down.

"Ollie," I called. The dog trotted over. I took hold of his collar, smiling in spite of myself. "You okay, Logan?"

He was laughing. "Yeah." He moved once more to carry the food inside. He made it this time with nothing to trip over. My mom took the opportunity to meet the newest member of our family for herself. She stepped closer and patted his head.

"Hi, boy," she crooned to the dog, who was pleased to be receiving even more love. He sniffed at her hand. "Oh, he's so sweet," she said, smiling.

"Yeah, he is," I agreed, leaving him with her and turning to retrieve the keys from the ignition and Annabeth's bag from the back seat, "He sure won his mom over quick." I grinned at Annabeth, who rolled her eyes but smiled.

"He just seemed like a good fit," she defended.

"I agree," my mom said, still scratching him while he panted happily.

Walking around the back of the car, I closed the trunk, which had been emptied but left open, and rejoined them. I handed Annabeth her purse and she took it with a "Thanks."

"What do you think?" I asked rhetorically as my mom straightened and we turned as one toward the front door, which had also been left open in the kids' wake, "Do they like him?"

Not a second later, Carly appeared in aforementioned open doorway and called, "Ollie, come here! Come see your new house!" Ollie perked up instantly at the sound of his name and now moved away from my mom, straining the leash still attached to him. It was plain to anyone that he wanted to go exactly where he was called. Still, my mom looked at Annabeth and me.

"He's fine," I told her, "Let him go." She did and Ollie instantly took off, crossing the yard in a dead sprint, the leash dragging limply behind him. He reached Carly in no time and slowed minutely. She turned and followed after him. The boys could be heard speaking loudly in the background.

"I think that answers your question," my mom said, smirking as we walked together toward the still-open front door.

"So we're not crazy for doing this then?" Annabeth asked only half seriously.

Her smile widened. "Well, you certainly have no shortage of activity in your lives, but I think it's a good idea. They obviously love him. I would have loved to have given Percy a real pet when he was little, but in the city like that, the best I could do was a goldfish." Her expression grew slightly teasing as she glanced at me, "Not that you ever minded."

I snorted, noticing Annabeth's smile. "Funny how that worked," I said and my mom laughed.

* * *

The kids were in the back yard with Ollie, throwing an orange ball around for him. Ollie chased it each time, but usually got distracted on the way back by some smell in this new place. He'd drop the toy and sniff around before being called back, and the scene would replay a moment later. Logan threw the ball again now and Carly turned away for the moment to approach the deck where we stood. "Can Ollie sleep with me tonight?" she asked.

Annabeth did most of the laundry in the house. I looked at her. She shrugged. "It's your bed," she said, unconcerned, "I don't care. But he might not sleep well tonight. He's at a new house and he doesn't know us yet. It might be scary for him."

"That's okay," she answered easily, "I'll cuddle him."

"Alright," Annabeth said.

"Yes!" Carly said. She turned around and ran back to the boys, calling, "Thanks, Mommy!" over her shoulder.

I looked sideways at Annabeth. "They have three more days of school left. You're not worried about her being up all night?"

She shrugged. "If he barks all night, we'll all be up anyway."

I considered that. "Great."

"You wanted a dog, Seaweed Brain," she said with a smirk, leaning into me.

"You did too," I countered, wrapping an arm around automatically her, "You just won't admit it."

She smiled, her eyes on the scene in the backyard. "No comment."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. More to come soon.  
**


	19. Unlikely Salvation

**Hello! I have had this chapter in mind since I first began writing this story and I am super excited to finally be posting it for you guys! I have so much in store from here on out and I can't wait to write it all! For the time being though, I hope you enjoy this update. I'll try to have the next one posted soon. :)**

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The next few weeks were surprisingly quiet. Ollie quickly settled into his new life with us and the kids absolutely adored him. They took turns each night having the dog sleep with each of them, though he seemed to prefer Carly's bed the most—probably because she was little and gave him the most room.

The three had been extremely responsible since we'd brought him home. They were completely on top of caring for him, and I didn't know how long that would last but for now, Annabeth was overjoyed.

School started back up a few days after the New Year and all three were doing well. Logan's transition into Northridge High had gone extremely smoothly, which had been no surprise to anyone but Logan. Nicky was doing better than ever in school. He and Hannah kept up something of a competition of grades between them, as both struggled with dyslexia and hadn't always had the easiest time. The added motivation seemed only to help. Carly was excelling so far in third grade, but she, for now at least, was as content as ever in her innocence. Work was busy for both Annabeth and me, but not overwhelmingly so. Overall, life was pretty good.

There was a lake right next to our neighborhood that froze solid in the winter months. It wasn't the smoothest surface ever, but the kids had made it an annual pastime to spend cold afternoons on the ice for makeshift hockey games. On a rare occasion, some others that lived nearby joined in, but they'd always been just as happy to play alone. Today, Hannah had tagged along and the four of us entertained ourselves half-running and half-slipping in a makeshift competition. It had started out as two on two, but had disintegrated somewhat into every man for himself. Logan had possession of the puck and moved across the slush-covered ice with Nicky trying to steal from one side and Hannah from the other. He provided his own commentary as he went.

"Jackson taking hits from all sides," he said dramatically, "Lawrence gets in a lucky swing. Can she steal the puck and take possession—No, she can't as Jackson fakes and evades, leaving Jackson and Lawrence _in the dust_. He's followed. They're gaining. They're gaining, is it enough? Can Jackson make the score—Yes! _Amazing_ shot by Logan Jackson! The crowd goes wild." Caught up in his own mock celebration, Logan missed it when his brother bent low, scooped up a handful of loose snow from the lake's surface, and hurled it at him. He hit him square in the back of the head and the commentary broke off mid-sentence with an _"—uguahhh!"_ as the cold registered with the back of his neck. He wiggled and flailed, struggling to get the melting snow out of his clothes. Nicholas was in stitches, watching.

I was laughing myself when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Stepping away from the kids and the noise, I read the caller ID and brought it to my ear. It was Annabeth. She was with Carly at a dentist appointment. "Hey," I answered.

"Hey," she replied.

"How's it going?"

"I don't know. We just went back a minute ago, but we're still waiting for someone to come in. I guess they're running behind today. It'll probably be a while."

"Alright, no problem." The kids, by now, were engaged in a full-blown snowball fight. Logan caught Hannah just under the chin and she yelled at the sudden cold. The sound carried far over the frozen lake.

"Where are you?"

"At the lake with the boys and Hannah," I told Annabeth, "They're having fun."

She gave a laugh. "Okay. Don't let them track snow through the house when you get back."

"Never."

"And find out if Hannah's staying for dinner, will you? I need to know how much food to defrost."

"She doesn't eat much either way, does she?"

"No, but the way our boys eat, the rest of us are lucky we get any at all."

I laughed. "That's a good point. I'll have her check with Sue when we head back."

"Thanks. I'm guessing we're looking at another hour here if they take x-rays and everything. If it's longer, you might have to start dinner for me."

"No problem. Just let me know. I'm sure we'll be back before then anyway. It's not exactly warm out here."

"You think?"

"Hey," I said, smirking. "We—" Hannah's piercing scream rose up now, a far different cry then the one the snowball to the face induced a minute earlier. Before my eyes, she dove out of the way of a ball of flame that flew toward her and landed on the ice where she'd been standing a second earlier. It melted right through the thick ice and left a hold the size of our coffee table in its wake. The source of the fireball: a massive Hydra that stalked onto the lake after her and the boys. All this happened in maybe a second. I still held the phone to my ear. "I gotta go," I said quickly and shoved it back in my pocket. Sprinting as quickly as possible on the slippery surface, I drew Riptide and tried to assess the situation.

Neither of my boys had ever faced something as serious as a Hydra before and I was positive from the wide-eyed expression on Hannah's face that she hadn't either. Logan was the first to react; he drew his sword, looking terrified. Nicholas followed suit, but clearly had no idea how to proceed further. Hannah had landed hard on her shoulder and favored it now, even as she got to her feet and produced a dagger from her boot. One summer at Camp Jupiter was all it took to teach a half-blood to never go unarmed. For that, I was grateful.

My next thought: _Oh gods._ This was a Hydra. The only way I knew to defeat a Hydra was to cut off all its heads and the only way to ensure it did not just sprout new ones was to burn the stumps before it could. We were on a frozen lake in the middle of a brutally cold February. We had no fire. "Don't cut the heads!" I yelled too late. Logan, who was closest and probably acting on reflex more than anything else, sliced the rightmost one clean off and slid nimbly under the monster's belly to its other side.

I knew the instant he realized his mistake. "Oh my gods!" he yelled while the creature sprouted two new heads to replace the first. His eyes widened even further and he just stared from the ground and then looked at me. "I'm so sorry. That was so stupid!"

"Get out of the way!" I yelled as the Hydra, angry now, charged Nicholas and Hannah, sending poison in every direction. They scattered. It sent another jet of flame toward them, but I was able to intercept it with my own jet of water. I was suddenly grateful for the gaping wound in the ice ten feet away that exposed the lake water underneath.

"What do we do?" Nicky yelled, already putting the pieces together, "We don't have fire!"

"Stay away, both of you!" I commanded him and Hannah, "Get off the ice!"

"I can help!" he protested.

"So can I," Hannah said, though her eyes betrayed just how scared she was.

"Right now, no one can help because I don't know what to do. The water is freezing and I don't want you to end up in it if the ice can't hold up!"

"Then tell us when you know!" he replied adamantly, completely ignoring the second half of my sentence. I didn't have time to argue. The Hydra was coming back. In a bit of quick thinking, I fell back on what I knew best: water. "Back up!" I yelled and then willed a liquid wall up through the ice before us and drove it into the charging monster. Of course, there was now a huge gash in the ice, which was spreading. The whole thing was compromised.

The water pressed the Hydra back though and as long as I kept it up, it lost ground rather than gained it. The problem, of course, was that I couldn't keep it up for long. I hadn't let loose with my powers like this in ages and I was expending a lot of energy controlling freshwater like this, but more importantly, there just wasn't enough water in the lake. If the level under the ice dropped too low, there'd be nothing left to hold it—and us—up.

"What if we stab but don't decapitate?" Logan asked over the noise, back on his feet and running, "Or aim for it's chest—does it have a heart?"

I was trying to think but I was coming up pretty empty. His guess was as good as mine at this point. "I have no idea," I said, "But we can try—we'll have to." I let go of control on the water and the ten-foot geyser shooting from the gouge vanished and receded, filling back in under us. The Hydra, nearly at the other end of the lake by now, was left spinning and stumbling on the wet ice, but it would regain it's footing soon enough. "Alright!" I shouted, looking at the three kids who stood behind me now and talking quickly, "We're going to have to work together. Logan, you need to watch the heads, especially the middle one. Douse any fire it throws and see if you can distract it. Use the water. _Don't_ cut off any more heads." He nodded and I turned to Nicky and Hannah. They were here and they wanted to help, scared or not. I was in no position to deny them that. And anyway, Annabeth wasn't here and I did need help. Praying I would not live to regret the decision, I said, "If you can get behind it without it seeing you, do it. Be quick. Attack from the back. Watch the poison. Watch the ice. If it starts breaking, you need to get off fast. Are you _absolutely_ sure you can handle this? Be honest with me." Nicholas nodded firmly with a look of determination that reminded me a lot of his mother. Hannah still looked terrified, but she nodded too. The Hydra was coming back. The ice crackled ominously under its weight. I was already moving. "Okay," I said, "Let's go!"

I turned fully and ran at the approaching monster, willing the water beneath us to support the still-breaking ice and hoping with everything in me that this ended better than it had the last time I'd fought a Hydra. That time, I very nearly died.

Logan kept pace a few steps behind me and sent a beautiful fountain of ice water at the face of the middle head before it could do much more than think about shooting more fire. "Nice!" I told him and then yelled at the imposing monster, hoping to keep the attention on myself and keep the kids, Hannah especially, out of the line of fire. "That's right, look at me, you overrated lizard. Eyes right here!" The Hydra seemed to realize I was its biggest threat at the moment and paid great attention. I dodged one jet of poison and then another, grateful for the winter jacket I wore, just in case.

I was surrounded by heads now—heads with mouths full of razor-sharp teeth. I avoided one and then another. Without really thinking, I stabbed one right through the eye, which blinded it but did not kill. A second later, I was doused with a couple gallons of water by a misplaced shot of Logan's. It was freezing and I had never been more grateful for the ability to remain dry. I heard his distant cry of "Sorry!" from somewhere to my southwest but didn't otherwise acknowledge it.

From the corner of my eye, I watched a stray head take notice of Nicky and Hannah and poise for attack. Hannah, moving faster than I'd ever seen her, whipped her dagger through the air in a perfect ark and speared the monster straight through the back of its throat. It screamed in pain, blood and poison spraying everywhere, and reared back into my own blade. That particular head was not doing well by the end of this.

Through careful slicing and stabbing, I managed to hack my way through the throng of heads and teeth without decapitating any of them, though it was definitely about as furious as possible by now. In a more desperate than calculated leap, I somehow found myself aligned with the monster's gigantic chest, right where the heart of any other mythological menace would be. With some effort, I stabbed Riptide into it, almost down to the hilt, and would undoubtedly have hit the heart if it had one. The bad news: it didn't have one. At least, not there.

I slid down and hit the ice beneath the tangle of poison-spewing heads with a sound of annoyance. It had been a good plan—maybe our only one—but it had not worked. Though the gaping hole in the Hydra's chest did seem to slow it down a little. I hoped it wasn't just wishful thinking. "Watch out!" came Logan's cry of warning then. I felt the fire before I saw it and, driving my sword into the ice at my feet, put the flame out before it could do more than singe my eyebrows. Just in time.

I rolled out of the entanglement and came out just left of the monster. The sound of water drew my attention then and I glanced over to see Logan, sword at his feet and both arms raised above his head, constructing a dome of water around the middle Hydra's head. He strained to hold it, but the encased head jerked and choked within the liquid, not able even to breathe, much less produce a spark. "Yes!" I yelled, sending a wave at the other six heads and washing away poison spray aimed at the both of us. "Yes, Logan, keep doing that!"

His arms were shaking now, but he held firm and as I watched—and dealt with the other heads as needed, the middle head appeared to be drowning. The Hydra knew this too. It's whole body flailed as it struggled to keep its prized weapon alive. It stomped and slid atop the frozen surface. Unfortunately, with the ice as structurally compromised as it was, the weight was just too much and as the monster brought it's hind leg down again, its foot hit the ice and kept going, straight through. Its whole body stumbled now, off balance, and Logan lost hold of the middle head. The water rained down all around us.

The ice was still cracking and another leg fell through. It's tail swinging powerfully back and forth, the new angle put it right in line with Nicky and Hannah and before either of them could move out of the way, it made contact. Nicholas was sent flying fifty feet across the lake. Hannah's cry sounded after him. I couldn't see if he got up again. My heart was in my throat, choking me, but I couldn't focus on Nicky right now, much as I longed to. I had two more kids in danger right here.

The Hydra was closer to the ground now and so were its heads. All six of them: alive and mostly well. It's flailing was not helping the ice. The cracks were spider-webbing now, separating into great chunks that floated free in the water. "Whoa!" Logan yelled, standing on one as it broke free. He was knocked off his feet.

A huge slab of ice, fifteen feet across, broke free and flipped up like a seesaw under the monster's weight. Hannah, at the other end of that seesaw, was sent flying vertically up. I stood on the end of it and slipped off the ice, right onto the water's surface. With a flick of the wrist, I sent pillow of water up after her and lowered her to safety closer to the shore.

Logan sat atop his ice raft, exhausted but unharmed. "My sword's gone!" he cried, panting. He looked to be trying to maneuver the slab of ice in the water, but wasn't making much progress. He'd worn himself out trying to drown the monster head.

The Hydra, up until this point, had been focused on survival after it had landed in the freezing water to the left of us. A few minutes earlier, several hundred square feet of solid ice had spread out there. It was open water now, with frozen chunks floating here and there like ice cubes in a cold drink. The monster hauled itself up onto a solid section, but struggled as parts of it broke further. Finally, it gained some ground and dragged itself to freedom. It was disheartening to see it come back for more after all of that. The thing just didn't know when to quit.

Unfortunately, its new position also put it much closer to Hannah than to us, and it set it's sights on her now. She turned and leapt out of the way, but the jet of poison spray came at her too fast. Her left side was doused in the acid and she let loose a cry of agony. I was already running, but even helped by the lake, I worried I wouldn't make it. I shoved a wall of water between Hannah and the Hydra, but I was tired myself and I couldn't keep it up for long. Still, with a great shove, I sent the monster back ten feet as I reached the solid ice. Before I got the chance to do anything more, a massive wave rose up from nowhere and swallowed the monster whole. As I watched, the Hydra was washed forcefully into the drink and shoved down to the very bottom. It struggled to free itself, to get back to the open air, but there was nothing tangible holding it down.

And at the edge of the ice on the other side of the sea of cold water, arms outstretched and looking angrier than I'd ever seen him as tears streamed down his red face, stood Nicholas.

* * *

 **To be continued.  
**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **As a side note, I've written so much stuff for PJO by now that I have run out of new monsters to use. I had to recycle the Hydra for this chapter because I could not find a single monster online that hasn't been used between the books and my other fanfics. And that's fine, but if anyone has any suggestions of any monsters that haven't been used yet, maybe some more obscure ones, and you'd like to share them, I would really appreciate it.**

 **Until next time!**


	20. Collateral Damage

**Hello! Here is the followup chapter to the Hydra attack. Thank you all for the favorites and reviews for this story. Your support truly means the world to me!**

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Nicholas held his arms out and held the monster down mercilessly, watching through the clear water as it struggled not to drown. I stared, slack-jawed, at my son. My son who had never before shown even a hint of ability when it came to water. My son who now handled it like a seasoned pro.

It had been maybe two seconds. Nicky looked up at me now. "Get her!" he cried, "Get Han-nah!" His voice broke on his best friend's name and I knew how terrified he was for her. "GO!"

Broken slightly from my shock, I glanced quickly at Logan, who was standing now, wide-eyed. He nodded, understanding, and began moving forward like he'd suddenly caught a second wind. He would keep an eye on his brother. He'd be there to help if and when Nicky needed him, but my youngest son was right. For now, I had bigger things to worry about. And I took off, running right on the water and using it to propel me further. I was at Hannah's side in seconds.

She lay curled in a fetal position atop the wet ice, dazed and crying out as the Hydra's poison ate through her clothes and flesh. Her hand cupped the side of her neck, which was badly blistered and burned beneath her fingers. Her winter coat was smoking and coated with the corrosive substance, which ate away more and more of the fabric by the second but hadn't yet fully reached the skin underneath. Her jeans had a few holes burned through them, revealing bright red skin beneath, but her middle had taken the majority of the hit. Her face, save for a small spot on her chin, seemed remarkably unharmed. "Hey, hey," I said, "You're okay. You're going to be fine." It wasn't pretty, but it could have been way worse, all things considered.

I directed a stream of water over her neck, flushing out the burns and hopefully neutralizing the poison there. Hannah gasped at the sudden cold.

"Move your hand," I said, laying my own gently atop her wrist and guiding it away.

"It hurts," she managed.

"I know it does. It's okay. Listen, I need to get your coat off. You have to hold still okay? Don't move. Can you do that?" Her eyes were tightly closed in a wince, but she managed a nod. I pulled Riptide from my pocket. It had left my hand at some point during the last few minutes, but had since returned to its place, reliable as always. Quickly and carefully, I slid the tip just under the bottom hem of her coat and sliced up. It was easier than cutting through butter. The acid-soaked fabric split easily and was away from her body in seconds. The long-sleeved blue shirt she wore beneath was riddled with tiny holes and minor burns, but the heavy coat seemed to have protected her from the brunt of it. "Thank gods," I breathed quietly. The last thing the poor kid needed was a full-body burn.

The sound of rushing water caught my attention now. I risked a glance behind me toward where Nicky, Logan beside him now, had held the Hydra down. I figured out quickly what had happened. He'd won. The monster had drowned, vanished into golden dust, and the water now rushed to fill in the space it had formerly taken up. Relief and pride welled inside me. Nicky had done that. He'd surely expended a lot of energy doing so too, and I hoped he hadn't shocked his system, having never done anything even close before. But he would be fine and I couldn't worry about him right now.

Hannah was still crying but her shrieks of pain had quieted some, which I took to be a good sign. The burn on her neck, where the poison had come in contact with open flesh, was the worst. Treating that first had been a good idea. But the residual poison everywhere else would still cause serious problems if I didn't get it off of her. I needed to flush the whole area, and Hannah was not going to like it.

"Hannah, listen," I said, "Can you look at me?" She did. "I need to get the rest of the poison off you before the other burns get worse. I have to dip you in the water." Her eyed widened. "Yeah, you aren't going to like it. But I promise, I'm going to dry you off as soon as you're out, okay? And then we'll get you some Nectar. Sound good?"

"No," she answered, "But you can do it anyway."

I smiled and was about to reply when Logan's frantic cry of, "Dad!" sounded from behind me. I turned to see him lowering his brother, apparently unconscious, to the ground. My heart sank, but Nicky would be okay. He was shock, I was almost positive, and worn out both physically and emotionally. But this knowledge didn't make seeing it any easier. "Nectar and Ambrosia!" I yelled, "Force it down his throat if you have to!" Annabeth was always drilling it into the boys to carry the stuff wherever they went. Logan, thank the gods, had listened.

Satisfied that Nicky, for the moment anyway, was well taken care of, I turned back to Hannah. "What happened?" she asked weakly, "Is Nick okay?"

"He'll be fine," I assured her, "Let's worry about you." I scooped her carefully up off the ice and carried her to the edge where it broke off into icy water. Hannah eyed it unenthusiastically, even as tears still fell from her eyes. She was still in astronomical pain, even after the little I'd done, and I was very impressed with how well she was handling it. I willed the warmest currents available in the lake to move to where I stood. It would by no means be warm, but I was doing my best. "Real quick," I promised her. She only closed her eyes tightly and held her breath. Taking that as all the signal I was going to get, I crouched down and lowered her quickly into the lake.

She cried out the second the freezing water touched her body. I had her out again almost as soon as she was in. Willing every last molecule of water off of her as quickly as possible, I set her on the ice at my feet, perfectly dry but shivering violently. She was crying again. I felt awful. "I'm sorry," I told her, "I had to do that." I dug from my back pocket the small package that contained a portion of godly food and drink. "Here," I said, handing her a square, "Eat this." She obeyed, chewing through her shivering. I doused her neck thoroughly with the Nectar and left just enough to lightly address the minor burns along the rest of her body. They all healed significantly and fast. The neck burn remained open and nasty, but maybe looked a little less raw.

I cast glances every few seconds at the boys as I worked. Logan knelt over Nicky, blocking my view of him. I couldn't tell if he was out still or not. I turned back to Hannah.

"How ya doing?" I asked, shedding my coat now, "Feeling better?"

"It still hurts," she replied.

"Is it any better?"

"A little, I guess."

"Okay. That's good. We've got more first aid stuff at home I can give you, but for now at least you aren't getting worse."

"T-thank y-you," she managed, shivering.

"Don't thank me," I said, wrapping my coat around her and helping her into it, "Let's just get you home. Come on." I bent and picked her up again, balancing her carefully in my arms and trying not to hit any injured areas. With the ice as broken and scattered as it was, the only direct way to Logan and Nicky was across the water itself. I carried Hannah across it as easily as I would dry land. She stared down, wide-eyed until she noticed the boys and walking on water grew unimportant.

"Is he okay? What happened?" she demanded.

"It's okay," I told her once again, "He used up all his strength drowning the monster."

"Drowned it?" she repeated, "Like, with the water?" She'd been too preoccupied to see anything. I nodded. She looked back toward her friend as we drew near. To my immense relief, I thought I saw him stir slightly, but I didn't dare pick up the pace. Jostling Hannah would only cause her more pain. As it was, she winced with every step. "I didn't know he could control water too," she said quietly.

I gave a smirk that she didn't see. "Neither did he."

We reached the ice where the boys were and I set Hannah down next to Nicky. She looked on in concern, but he was definitely stirring now, his head cradled on his brother's knees. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and then cracked them open, looking dazedly around. "Hey, champ," I said, cradling his head.

"Oh my _gods_ , Nicky," Logan said, his eyes slightly wet, "Give me a heart attack, why don't you?"

"What happened?" Nicky managed. He struggled to sit up and quickly gave up again, relaxing back onto his brother's lap.

"I think you wore yourself out," I said with a small smirk.

Still a little out of it, he squinted at me. "Did I really do that? With the water…?"

"Yeah, you did," I said, my smile growing, "Perfect timing, too."

Looking slightly awed, Nicky started to shake his head. Then he froze, eyes widening. "Hannah. Where's Hannah? Is she—"

"I'm here," Hannah piped up, looking and sounding worse for wear.

"Are you okay?"

"Kind of."

"We've got to get home and get her more Nectar and some stuff for her burns," I said, "Think you can get up if we help you?

He still looked drained, but he nodded. It took a minute, but we managed to get him on his feet. Logan slung his brother's arm around his neck and helped support him. I carried Hannah again and we set off slowly for home.

I was glad the lake was so close.

* * *

The next few hours were a bit of a whirlwind. By the time we made it back, Annabeth was, unsurprisingly, already back with Carly. She took one look at the four of us and immediately sent the eight year old to get Hannah's parents. "Tell them there was an accident," she said, and then sent Logan to retrieve the half-blood first aid kit on the top shelf of the linen closet. When he returned, she handed him an Ambrosia square which he was to eat immediately, and then sent him back for blankets for Hannah, unbundling her just enough to see her neck.

The wound was a nasty one. She thoroughly cleaned it, which had the poor girl screaming in pain once more, and then doused it thoroughly in Nectar again before covering it liberally with burn cream. I recognized it as the same stuff used by Apollo campers in the infirmary at camp, which was good. I knew first hand how great it was for healing and pain. Beyond the cream and applying a loose bandage to the area, there wasn't much more to be done. Nicky didn't leave his friend's side for any of it.

Sue, Hannah's mother, arrived with Carly seconds after Annabeth finished with cleaning, which was good because the poor woman looked panicked enough. She rushed into the room, took one look at Hannah, and her jaw fell open. "Oh my—what happened?"

Annabeth sent Carly upstairs to play before we could explain. She went easily, looking a little scared. I told Sue what happened then. She looked horrified, but took the news surprisingly well. She listened quietly, brushing tears away but otherwise pretty levelheaded. When she'd heard everything, she took a deep breath, seated beside her daughter, and, releasing it slowly, asked, "Is this what you meant? When you told us the monsters would come?" Her voice was soft, but even.

Annabeth nodded quietly. Hannah, who had been silent throughout my entire recount, looked at her mother now, suddenly concerned. "Don't make me stop being friends with Nick, Mommy, please. It wasn't his fault. It just happens. It would've even without them. I—"

"Hannah," Sue said softly, placing a hand on her hair, "Relax. I'm not going to do that." Nicky looked visibly relieved at this news as well. "I'm appalled," she said, speaking not just to her daughter, "But I realize that this all would have been so much worse without you and your boys," she looked at me now, "So thank you."

"Of course," I answered.

Sue looked back at Hannah, assessing the large bandage on her neck. "Is this going to scar?" she asked, looking at Annabeth only after she finished talking.

Beside me, Annabeth hesitated momentarily. "Yes."

Hannah looked up at that. "What?"

"I'm sorry, honey," she said, "It's a really bad burn."

"But it's on my neck." She looked to her mom's tearful eyes before slowly turning back. Her concerted effort to be strong for her mother was amazing. "How bad?" she asked.

Annabeth glanced at me before answering. "Maybe not bad. Percy got the poison off you pretty quickly, but we'll have to wait and see. "

Sue took Hannah home pretty soon after that. She needed to rest and heal, and her father would be getting home any second. Nicky, still unsteady on his feet, rose to say goodbye. He looked like he wanted to hug his friend but thought better of it with her injuries. "I'm glad you're okay," he said, "I'm really sorry you got hurt."

Hannah, favoring her left side, offered a weak one-armed shrug. "It would have been worse without you."

He blushed then and looked down. "Feel better," he said.

"You too."

We walked with them to the door. Hannah was doing a little better though and was okay to walk. When they had gone, Annabeth turned to Nicky. She pulled him close and hugged him. "I'm proud of you," she said and kissed the top of his head. He leaned into her but said nothing. "But you have to practice with Dad so you don't pass out like that again, okay?" he nodded and she let him go. "Go lay down. I'll get you when dinner's ready."

"'Kay," he replied dully and turned for the stairs.

We watched him go until he disappeared around the corner. Annabeth looked at me. She studied me for a second and then sighed. "Our kids aren't supposed to be this powerful," she said, "They're only legacies."

I smirked. "What else is new?"

She shook her head and the raised a hand to my face. "Did you get burned?" she asked, running her thumb down my cheek. It stung a bit. Like a bad sunburn.

I shrugged. "Possibly. There was fire."

She shook her head, releasing her breath in a laugh. "You should eat some Ambrosia too."

"Okay."

She stepped forward and planted a light kiss on my lips, before turning to go with a smirk. "You should also stop fighting Hydras without me."

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 **Thanks for reading!**


	21. Like Father, Like Son

**Hello! I am back with chapter 21!**

 **As some of you may know, I have been slowly making my way through this story's prequel, Climbing Mt. Everest, rewriting and edits portions of it to make it more cannon to the books, not all of which were released when I wrote it. In doing so, I discovered that I messed up a little on the ages of the kids, particularly Nicky's. Logan is just under 2 and a half years older than him and in more recent chapters of this story, I'd increased that gap to 3 and a half years. I took the time today to go through earlier chapter of this and fix Nicky's age (and also Hannah's since they're the same age) to align with CME. It might not have even been noticeable, but I'm picky about these things.**

 **The children's (correct) ages are as follows. Logan is fifteen. His birthday is late in January and therefore just passed (it's mid-February now in the story). Nicky is twelve, turning thirteen in August. Carly is eight, turning nine in March.**

 **I've also changed the way I've been writing these last few chapters to more align with CME, as CME followed more day to day life, whereas the first few chapters of this story skipped quite a bit, though it was somewhat necessary to establish the plot a little. In any case, chapters will take place closer together now and will hopefully more resemble the formatting of CME. That is all.  
**

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"Focus," I instructed Nicky, standing beside him in the sand of the empty fireworks beach, a few short feet from the water line. It was February—just a few days after the Hydra attack on the lake—and brutally cold; an icy wind blew off the Sound and stung my cheeks. I dug my hands deep into the pockets of my jacket in response.

Nicky, however, concentrating as he was, seemed unaffected by the weather. He stood perfectly straight, facing the surf, with a look of fierce determination. His hands shifted forward the slightest bit, nearly shaking with the effort.

Smirking and making an effort not to laugh watching him, I said, "Relax, Nicky. Don't think so much, just feel the water."

In the days since the Hydra attack, there had been no more displays of newfound power from the twelve-year old, though he'd certainly been trying. Glasses, the bath tub, the kitchen sink; he'd exhausted all efforts, even going as far as trekking back out to the lake, which had yet to freeze over again, to try his hand at manipulating the water there. It was all to no avail, and he'd grown increasingly discouraged. However, Logan had struggled to manipulate freshwater at first too, and while I'd never had a problem with either, saltwater had always seemed more second nature to me too. I barely needed even to think for it to obey, and I wondered if the same went for Nicholas. Hence, our trip here today.

We'd made the drive to camp this afternoon so he could practice with his control over ocean water without risking mortals seeing. With the cold weather, the beach was deserted. There were no watching eyes to make him nervous. Even Logan had stayed home to work on an essay. It was just us.

Nicky dropped his hands to his sides and, with a sigh, looked at me. "It's not working," he said dully.

"It will. You just need practice."

"No, it won't. I can't do it."

"Nicky, you _have_ done it."

"That was different," he protested, "I wasn't trying. I don't know what I did. I was just scared and—and mad."

"Exactly," I said, "You were scared and mad, and you managed to channel it into your power. It doesn't matter that you weren't trying."

"Whatever," he shrugged dejectedly, "I can't do it again."

"Yeah, you can."

"No, I can't! I've tried and tried, and all I get is frustrated!"

"So use it," I said, "Use your frustration."

"I don't know how…"

I sighed and took a step toward him. Placing my hands on his shoulders, I turned him gently toward me and held him there, looking into his gray eyes. "Yes, you do, champ," I told him, "You just don't know it. But you did it out there on the lake. That was all you. You used the water and you saved Hannah. You probably even saved the rest of us." He looked to be considering protest. "You did," I added, "Things were looking bleak, kiddo."

"Maybe," he allowed with an unimpressed shrug, "But it's not working now."

"It will. It gets easier. You did it once, and you can do it again."

He eyed me for a long moment with his jaw set stubbornly. For a second, I feared Nicky, strong-willed as he was, might actually give in and call it quits. But the stubborn glint refused to die completely from his eyes and finally he looked out toward the water with a distinctly pre-teenage sigh. He studied the choppy waves for a minute and the glanced back at me. "What do I do, again?"

Allowing a small smile, I took a step back. "Focus on the water," I coached, "Command it. You'll feel it in your gut—hold on to it."

He gave a small, unsure nod and then turned toward the tide once more. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. I watched in anticipation and, I'll admit, the slightest worry that he really might not figure it out. I knew he could do it without a doubt, but until he did too, that water wasn't going to move.

I alternated looking between my son and the waves, trying to sense even the tiniest shift in the current which might indicate Nicky's influence. For another agonizing almost-minute, absolutely nothing discernible happened and my heart sank with each passing second. But then, Nicky's hands, still and rigid at his side, clenched.

I felt the change before I saw it—little at first, but quickly growing. And an instant later, a wave larger than any we'd seen so far crashed to the shore and rushed quickly over the beach, quickly surpassing the end zone of moist sand and drenching the dry area. A mere second before it reached the place we stood, where his sneakered feet would be at the mercy of the chilly water, Nicky's eyes flew open. He took in the scene for only the tiniest instant before he flung his hands out in front of him and, looking both shocked and exhilarated, diverted the huge wave in a wide arc around the spot, leaving us atop a six-foot diameter of dry sand. "Yes!" I cried, laughing, as saltwater rushed by, "Yes, Nicky, you're doing it! You've got it!"

His jaw fell open for only a moment before his face broke out in a wide smile at his victory. His eyes shone with pride just like his mother's often did. The water now fully receded to where it had started; he examined his hands with wonder and then turned them out again, raising them over his head. The Long Island Sound mimicked the action; two fountains of water broke the surface and shot up maybe five or six feet before dropping back down once more.

He laughed in elation and entertained himself over the course of the next few minutes, creating small geysers and large waves, which soaked all of the surrounding area, but left the sand at our feet completely dry. I only had to intervene one time—his third attempt at this particular stunt—when he wasn't quick enough to divert the water and very nearly wound up with wet socks. Still unsure of the extent of his water related abilities, I stepped in with a tiny wave of a pocketed hand and sent it back the other way. Nicky couldn't necessarily will himself dry—yet—and soaked feet in this weather was a recipe for disaster.

Engrossed completely in his new talent, he didn't notice and I didn't tell him. After all this time, it had finally clicked for him. His smile meant everything to me. And, gods, was I proud.

I stood with my arms crossed over my chest and a grin I was helpless to prevent on my face. The tiniest worry crossed my mind about what had happened the last time he used his power, but he was exerting far less energy messing around like he was than he had holding the Hydra at the bottom of the lake. I was pretty sure he'd be okay.

I spotted movement from the corner of my eye and turned to find Chiron, wearing his customary tweed jacket with his white horse half bare, standing at the edge of the sand and watching the scene with a smile. He gave a nod of greeting when I caught sight of him. I glanced quickly back at Nicky. "I'll be right back," I said, and then sternly added, "Be careful."

The twelve-year old spared me the tiniest of offhand nods, but didn't otherwise react. Taking that and the fact that his hands were perfectly steady as a good sign, I smirked and turned away to make my way up the beach to the Centaur. "This is a pleasant surprise," he said when I drew near.

I gave a laugh, "Sorry," I said, "You were teaching when we got here, but I figured you wouldn't mind if I brought Nicky down."

"Of course not," Chiron answered, "You and your family are always welcome here."

I smiled. "Thanks."

The Centaur smiled and then nodded behind me at Nicholas. "This is a new development," he commented.

My grin widened. "Yeah, he finally figured it out."

"He must be pleased."

"He is," I said, "He just needed to get out of his head long enough to realize he could do it."

Chiron nodded. "The confines of a hero's own mind are sometimes the hardest obstacle he faces."

"He just needed some… motivation, I guess."

He laughed now. "So I've heard. And considering the efforts his father took for his own best friend as a child, the apple doesn't seem to have fallen very far from the tree."

I gave a laugh of my own. "No, I guess it didn't."

"How is Nick's Roman friend doing?"

I sighed. "I think she's okay. The scars are pretty obvious on her neck, but she got lucky."

"From what I understand, she was in good hands."

I shrugged and looked away. "I guess. I wish she hadn't gotten hurt at all though. Especially on my watch."

"I should think you know even better than most just how unavoidable these things can be," Chiron said, his voice gentle but paternal, "This next generation of heroes has been blessed with the benefits of the sacrifices of yours, but Hannah is a half-blood as much as you are, and she will have to make her way in this life just as all others have. You should not feel guilty over the inevitable."

"Yeah… I know."

The Centaur gave a wry smile. "I see that fatal flaw of yours is as active as ever."

I exhaled in a laugh. "I guess I'm still working on it."

"As you shall for the rest of your life. That's the nature of them."

"They keep us humble, I guess."

"In the case of the best, yes, they do." I smiled and glanced down, suddenly embarrassed. When I glanced back again, Chiron's eyes were again on Nicky, still bending the Sound's currents to his will. The activities director wore a contented smile once more. "I have to admit," he said, "I do enjoy having the opportunity to regularly teach the children of my former campers. It was such a rare thing for earlier generations of half-bloods to survive long enough to allow it." He cast a quick glance my way, his smile widening a bit, "I'm not supposed to have favorites, Percy, but if I did, I think its safe to say your boys would be among them. Carly too, I'm sure, when the time comes."

I smirked. "Thanks, Chiron."

"It does fascinate me," he continued, still watching my son, whose movements had grown slightly sluggish but showed no sign of stopping yet, intently, "how powerful Logan and now Nicholas have turned out to be. Legacies generally inherit very little, if any, of their parents' gifts, but clearly that is not the case with them. Their water abilities are not at the same levels as yours, even when you were first learning, but they are both easily as powerful as any younger half-blood sibling of yours." He glanced at me now, "In any case, you should be proud."

"Oh, I am," I replied, smiling.

"How is Annabeth?" he asked now.

"She's good," I answered, "She's home helping Logan with his essay on western expansion."

"Ah." He smiled and studied me for a few seconds before looking back at Nicky and going on. I watched with him and listened as he spoke. "I've always been glad you have each other. You've both suffered more than most heroes I've known, and you deserve the best life has to offer. You've built a beautiful family and I'm proud of everything you've accomplished together."

Halfway through this sentiment, I looked over and stared up at Chiron. He'd hinted at as much before, but had never said so in as many words. "Thank you," I said now, touched.

Chiron looked over and smiled. "You're welcome. Tell her hello."

"I will."

As we watched, Nicky's antics with the water slowed and then vanished. His hands stilled at his sides again and he took a step back, out of the reach of the tide, and sat down on the dry sand. "Looks like someone's all tired out," noted the Centaur.

I smirked. "Honestly, I'm kind of surprised he made it as long as he did." He smiled with glint in his eye that made me think he wasn't surprised at all. "I should probably get him home," I continued, "Annabeth said she was serving dinner at six-thirty, whether we were back or not." Chiron laughed.

"Yes, go," he said, "I should make sure everything is in order for dinner here tonight myself." He smiled. "Have a good night, Percy."

"Thanks, Chiron. You too."

"Thank you."

With a last exchanged smile, we parted ways; the Centaur turning away from the beach while I made my way back across the sand to where Nicky sat, his legs bent up in front of him, elbows resting on knees.

His breathing was slightly quicker then normal as I drew near him, but when he caught sight of me, he smiled widely. "That was so awesome," he said, gray eyes glinting with excitement.

"Yeah, it was," I agreed with matching enthusiasm, "I told you you could do it." I crouched down beside him.

"You were right about thinking too much," he admitted, "I was making it way harder than it is."

"I know," I laughed,

Nicky laughed too. "It's really tiring," he added now.

"I know," I said again, still smirking. I straightened and reached into my pocket, produced the Ambrosia I'd brought for this very reason, and handed it back to him. "It get's easier. You just have to practice." He nodded, chewing the godly food and watching the waves crash to the shore a few feet in front of us. He instantly perked up. "What do you think?" I asked after a moment, "Should we get out of here?"

He looked at me. "I can't go again?" Apparently he'd been ready to go another round.

"I think you've had enough for one night, champ. You'll wear yourself out." He looked slightly disappointed at this reasoning. "Your powers aren't going anywhere, Nick," I added, "And neither is the ocean."

Nicky breathed a sigh. "Okay," he agreed.

I smirked. "Come on. You'll have lots of time to practice."

He moved to stand slightly reluctantly. Another heavy gust of wind blew across the beach and he wrapped his arms tightly around himself. "Yeah, okay, let's go," he decided then, shivering slightly.

I laughed. "You didn't seem fazed by the cold before."

"I wasn't paying attention," he admitted and grinned.

Still chuckling, I started walking. Nicky kept pace beside me. We'd left the sand and now walked on the frozen grass leading toward Half-Blood Hill when he spoke up again. "Thanks for taking me here, Dad. And… for helping me.

I smiled beside him. "You're welcome." Like I would do anything else.

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 **Thanks for reading!  
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	22. In Sickness and in Health

**Hi! So, I'm not going to lie, I really don't know that I like this chapter very much and I came very close to not posting it. However, I think it's important for Percy and Annabeth, just like in CME, to have occasional slower moments. Not everything can be monster attacks and battles, and the idea seemed cute at the time. Written out, I don't know how well it actually turned out, but I wrote the whole thing and didn't really want to just trash it after all that. So, here it is. I hope it isn't so much of a mood shift that it seems out of place with the rest of the story. If it does, I'm sorry. I hope you still enjoy reading it. And better things are coming soon!**

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Illness, when it comes to half-bloods, is an interesting thing. Apparently the gods never saw a need to bestow upon their children their invulnerability against germs, so we have always been susceptible to the occasional virus. Not as much as a fully mortal person, maybe, since our godly blood does seem to provide a bit more immunity than the average Joe, but we can still get sick. And when flu season came around, in the Jackson household at least, if one kid got sick, sooner or later, the other two—and maybe even the rest of us—also would. Some years, we were able to make it through unscathed, but then, some others, we weren't

Which was why when Carly came home from school one afternoon in early March with a stomachache and the beginnings of a fever, I knew we were in for it. As a preventative measure, everyone was given a small bite of Ambrosia every morning in the coming days, but nothing was perfect. Not two days later, Logan came down with it, and Nicky followed close behind him. It had been an interesting week.

For the most part, the kids were on the way back to health again now. Nicky, the last to get sick, had been the last one still left with a fever, and his had finally broken the day before. We'd all gone to bed with high hopes that the worst was over.

Those hopes were crushed a bit when I woke up, alone in bed, a few minutes before six in the morning. Across the room, the bathroom light was on, shining through the door that had not quite been closed all the way. Unfortunate noises sounded from within. Heart sinking, I kicked off the covers and sat up with a sigh.

I crossed to the bathroom door and knocked gently. "Annabeth?" I asked. Receiving no reply, I pushed it slowly open. Annabeth stood before the sink and, ignoring me completely, turned on the faucet and rinsed her mouth out. Only when she had finished, did she turn and meet my eyes.

She looked sick. Her skin was pale but for flushed cheeks, and her gray eyes were dull and slightly glassy. And if there was any doubt about how bad she felt, the unhappy set of her mouth cleared it right up. "Sorry I woke you up," she offered blandly.

I shrugged her words off and lifted the back of my hand to her clammy forehead. "There was a time when this was a regular thing," I offered lightly. She made a face. I smirked and lowered my arm. "You have a fever."

"I'm shocked." She turned, clearly far from, and grabbed her toothbrush from the holder at the edge of the sink. "You should probably go," she said, squeezing toothpaste onto it, "The last thing we need is for both of us to get sick." I shrugged and was about to inform her that, after the past week, my standing near her would really have very little effect one way or another on my health, when her alarm clock went off unnecessarily behind me. Toothbrush in mouth, she gave me what was probably supposed to be an amused look, but she looked so miserable that it didn't really work out. I sighed lightly and then left her there.

I crossed to her side of the bed and shut off the alarm. When the room was quiet once more, I turned and walked to the dresser in search of a shirt. I wasn't fond of wearing one to bed, but it was late winter in New York and I was cold now without it. Annabeth walked out of the bathroom as I pulled it on, headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked, stepping after her and catching up easily.

"To wake the kids up," she answered, as if this should have been obvious, "Carly and Logan need to go to school, even if it is Friday. They've been out all week. And Nicky too as long as he's feeling okay."

"No," I said, placing a hand on her arm as she reached for the door knob, "All _you_ need to do is get back in bed before you make yourself worse. I'll handle the kids." She made a valiant effort, but she was far too unsteady on her feet at the moment to be of much use to anyone. She still looked a little green around the edges and was obviously ready to drop, despite her best efforts. She was used to taking care of everyone and admitting defeat did not come any more naturally to her at thirty-nine than it had at sixteen.

"Percy, I'm fi—" She'd whirled around to face me as she said this and broke off now, swaying slightly as if dizzy.

"Uh huh," I said, steadying her, "I can totally see that."

Annabeth, stable again for the moment, simply shut her eyes and groaned. When she opened them again, she looked at me and asked, "Is it wrong that I kind of hate our children right now?" And I knew she knew I was right.

I gave a single laugh. "Go back to bed. Do you want to call the firm or should I? You're not working today."

She studied me weakly for a few seconds, as if debating whether it was worth arguing this point. Eventually she sighed, "I hate it when you're right," and turned toward the bed.

I managed to hide my smile until I was out of the room.

Logan was already awake when I turned down the hall. Bleary-eyed and lethargic, but awake, walking sluggishly toward the bathroom. "I'm up," he promised halfheartedly.

"Great," I told him, as amused as ever at the fact that none of my children were the tiniest bit morning people. To be fair, I hadn't been as a kid either—quests and wars notwithstanding, but adulthood had changed my ways somewhat. "I'm taking you to school today."

Logan, still half-asleep, was apparently not yet cognizant enough to care why, though he went in with Annabeth more often than not. He shrugged, "'Kay," and flipped the bathroom light on. Smirking, I continued down the hall.

"Rise and shine," I called into Nicky's room, flipping the light on from the doorway. He didn't stir. "Come on, champ, time to get up." The twelve-year old groaned and burrowed deeper into his pillow, but rolled over in compliance after a second, squinting at the sudden brightness. "Still feeling good enough to go in?" I asked, standing before him.

He thought for a second and then nodded. And he looked it. His color was better than it had been even yesterday and according to the school policy, if a student was fever-free for twenty-four hours, they could return. Nicky was a dedicated student, despite his struggles, and he didn't like falling behind. "What time is it?" he slurred, squinting at the clock beside him. It read _6:11_.

Normally, he was allowed to sleep in a little longer, but with three kids in three different schools, all starting at different times, we'd need to leave earlier than normal if all of them were going to be on time. "You've got to come with me to drop Logan off before I bring you to school," I explained, "Mom's not feeling good."

He looked up now. "Did we get her sick?"

"Probably."

"But she never gets sick."

"Not often," I allowed, "But she does, sometimes. Believe it or not, she's not _actually_ invincible." He smiled. "Get ready, okay? I have to go wake up your sister."

"Okay."

A few minutes later, all three were up and getting ready, and I made my way downstairs with the dog, let him out in the back yard, and then moved to the kitchen, where I filled a glass with water and grabbed some ibuprofen and a thermometer to bring back upstairs. Ollie was waiting to be let inside again when I finished, and, juggling the objects in my hands, I opened the door for him and turned back toward the hall. He trotted up ahead of me and followed me to the master bedroom. Annabeth was climbing back into bed when I opened the door. Judging from the looks of her, I guessed she'd been in the bathroom again.

Ollie ran in ahead of me and jumped up on the bed, settling himself down by her legs. She made no effort to kick him off. "I brought you some medicine," I said, "It might help."

"Assuming it stays down?" she replied somewhat wryly.

"Did you call in to work?" I asked.

She nodded glumly. I set the water and pills on the bedside table and handed her the thermometer. She made a face, but took it and held it to her ear. "You need to get dressed," she said. The thermometer beeped and she looked at it. Making a face, she informed me, "102."

I nodded in acknowledgment, already grabbing some clothes from the closet and turning toward the bathroom. I took a quick shower and dressed. When I came out again, Annabeth looked to be sleeping, or at least trying to. Ollie lay beside her, watching me. He made no effort to follow as I moved to leave, even after I held the door open invitingly for him and waited. Smirking, I turned away and left him to stand guard over her.

* * *

It was nearly two hours later when I finally returned home after bringing everyone where they needed to go. I heard Ollie barking from upstairs and winced a little at the fact that he'd surely woken Annabeth if she'd been sleeping. Leaving my keys on the hook by the door and shedding my coat and shoes, I made my way inside and climbed the stairs to our bedroom. Unsurprisingly, she was awake when I entered. "You're supposed to be at work," she informed me.

"Yeah," I said sardonically, "I was going to go into work today and leave you like this."

"I figured you'd say that. It's the only reason I didn't get up to see who was breaking into my house."

I smirked. "How'd you know I wasn't a monster?"

She offered a weak shrug. "I know how you work. And monsters don't typically have keys." I smiled. "For the record," she added, "You worked all last week when the kids were sick."

"That's because they were under your capable care. Who's supposed to take care of everything here if you're out of commission?"

"I've been sick before, Percy," she said, watching with some interest as I walked around to the side of the bed and climbed in next to her. Ollie stood up at the disruption, tail wagging.

"Humor me," I said, getting comfortable and pulling her toward me while the dog settled himself back down at the foot of the bed.

"You're going to get sick," she murmured halfheartedly, trying feebly to pull away.

"I ate some Ambrosia. I'll be fine."

"Yeah, 'cause that worked so well for me."

"Hey, I'm trying to be a good husband, okay? Now, let me take care of you." I paused for a few seconds and then added stubbornly, "I'm not leaving."

"Fine," she said, settling back into me, and then, turning to look at me, asked, "Are you just going to lay here with me all day?"

"Sure. I've done worse things."

She smiled. "I know you have. I've done most of them with you."

"That's probably why I'm still here."

"What do you mean, 'probably'?"

I laughed and wrapped an arm loosely around her. She felt slightly cooler than she had before. "Did you take that medicine I brought you?"

"Yeah," she answered, "I slept for a little while too, until _someone_ decided to skip work and wake me up again."

"Sorry," I said, feeling bad now. "If I'm keeping you awake, I'll go,"

"No, it's too late. You're stuck here now."

I smirked. "I'll take the kids out tomorrow, let you get some rest."

"Let's just get through today first and see what happens," she replied, her eyes closed as she leaned against me.

"Okay," I answered softly, settling in more myself as silence fell between us.

I knew from the change in her breathing a few minutes later that she had drifted back to sleep, her head pillowed on the space between my chest and shoulder. Considering how stubborn she'd been about my staying away earlier, she sure seemed more than comfortable with the proximity now. And I was glad to provide it. Annabeth spent her days taking care of everyone, myself included, and she was incredible at it. Never did she complain or appear to grow tired of it, even with the demanding job she also juggled. She amazed me, even after all these years, with her strength and patience. It was so rare for her to be taken out like this, but even with how awful I knew she felt, I was slightly glad for it. Annabeth deserved to have herself taken care of for a change.

I lay beside her for a few more minutes, listening to her steady breathing and that of the dog at our feet. In the comfort and quiet of the empty house, it wasn't long before I drifted off myself.

I was woken up again by Annabeth, struggling feebly to readjust her position next to me. Normally a picture of utter grace, the full-body weakness and ache that came with the illness reduced her skills somewhat—still more than able, but also mildly pitiable. And I wasn't exactly the most difficult person to wake up after everything I'd been through.

I glanced over now, my head still buried in the pillow behind me, to find her reaching blindly, and without much success, for the glass of water, still mostly full, on the bedside table behind her. Without a word, I reached my free hand over and retrieved it for her. She made a face as I handed it to her, but took it otherwise without complaint. She forced down a couple small sips and then, wincing slightly, lay back down and allowed me to put it back. "Feeling any better?" I asked, relaxing back down myself.

She gave a small shake of her head. "Worse, if anything," she murmured unhappily and then looked at me, "What time is it?"

I glanced behind her at the alarm clock. "A little after ten."

With closed eyed, she sighed and offered an unimpressive nod. "You really don't have to stay here, you know."

I brushed a stray curl from her forehead. ""What other excuse would I have to stay in bed all day? The only way I'm leaving before the kids need picking up is if you kick me out," I informed her, and then added, "You stayed with me that time. I'm finally returning the favor."

She opened one eye just enough to peak up at me. "Are you talking about that time back in college?"

I gave a nod she didn't see. "I was sick for, like, four days and you spent every minute you weren't in class there with me."

Her eyes were closed again, but her lips twitched the tiniest bit, like she was fighting a smile. "That's because you're a typical man and turn into an invalid the second you come down with a runny nose," she murmured, curling into my side again, "Which is surprising, considering everything you've actually been through."

"That's not—"

"Yes, it is."

I pursed my lips and stared down at her for a second. I didn't want to argue with her in this state. That didn't mean I agreed. "Well, we can't all be as amazing as you."

She gave a tiny smile. "Stop talking, Seaweed Brain," she mumbled, "Trying to sleep."

Smirking, I settled back into the pillows myself. It would be a long day, but I could think of no one better to spend it with.

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 **Thank you for reading.  
**


	23. Favorite Things

**Hi! First off, I am so, _so_ sorry about the huge delay in posting this update. I could give you a list a mile long of my various excuses, but instead I'll just say thank you all so much for your patience and I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's slightly short and not very exciting, really. I wrote it as sort of a filler chapter to sort of space out the action/plot chapters a bit. But I think it's cute and I hope you enjoy it.**

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One of my favorite things about having a dog was the excited greeting I received every time I walked in the door. When the kids were young, I'd come home from work each day to shouts and running feet as they dropped everything to say hello. This, of course, faded as they grew older and while coming home to them was still my favorite part of the day, I was surprised sometimes by how much I missed the hugs and sticky kisses. Ollie nearly made up for it though.

His reddish-gold head appeared in the entry window to the left of our front door as I approached, keys dangling from one hand. He panted up at me through the glass, his tail wagging behind him. I smiled and unlocked the door. "Hey, boy," I said, stepping inside and closing it behind me. The overgrown puppy ran in excited circles, tail whacking my knees with each pass. Smiling, I dropped my workbag on the floor at my feet and bent to give him my full attention. He reined in his enthusiasm enough to stand still and be petted, though his tail continued beating back and forth behind him. After a few seconds of this, Ollie, apparently satisfied, began moving again and cast expectant glances back at me every few seconds while I stood, removed my coat and shoes, and then grabbed the strap of my bag to toss into the office on my way. The golden setter dutifully led the way.

Logan was sprawled across the couch in the living room, a book propped up and open before him. He glanced up as I walked by. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey," I replied, stopping in the doorway while Ollie walked inside and planted himself on the rug in front of the coffee table. "How was school?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Fine. I'm glad it's Friday."

"I'm with you there." He nodded and, apparently satisfied with that acknowledgement, turned back to his book. I'd spent more than enough time around Annabeth to know the conversation was over. Smirking, I left him to it.

The kitchen was surprisingly quiet considering the amount of people in it. Annabeth leaned over the island, a blueprint spread out before her, working on a sketch of another. She glanced up and smiled when I walked in, gray eyes bright and beautiful.

Nicky and Carly sat at the table with Hannah, who had basically become a Jackson in all but name at this point, playing a board game. Blokus was a family favorite; one that required a decent amount of strategy and which Carly especially had taken a liking to over the past months. She had always seemed a pretty even mix of the both of us, but as she grew older, it was impossible to miss the bits of Annabeth in her. I had no doubt that, when the time came, she'd be a great asset to any Capture the Flag team.

"Hi, Daddy," she said now, glancing over her shoulder at me.

"Hi," I replied, looking between the three of them. Hannah offered a smile in greeting. "Who's winning?"

"Me," Carly answered, followed by a slightly impish laugh clearly directed at her brother.

Nicky stared down at the board before him with a narrow, four-square piece in hand and the look of someone fighting a losing battle but refusing to give in—the ever-present competition that existed between the three Jackson kids was one for the record books. He finally settled on an open space and made his move, leaning back in his chair while Hannah took her turn.

He glanced up at me and gave in to a grudging smile when he found me smirking at him. His was a position I'd been in before. Many times. There had come a point not long into our friendship as kids when Annabeth and I had had to stop playing certain games together entirely. She literally always won and it had wounded my twelve-year old ego before I liked her enough not to care. "How was school?" I asked him.

"Good," he replied absently, his eyes on Hannah now as she placed her own piece down on the board. I watched, largely unnoticed, as his eyes fell first on her hand as she made her move, and then travelled up to land on the warped skin that had lined the side of her neck since our encounter with the Hydra six weeks earlier. Thanks to Nectar and Ambrosia, the scarring from the monster's venom was not nearly what it could have been, nor was it really all that bad. Hannah's skin was on the fairer side, but given some time, the pinkness of the scars would fade and, in certain lighting at least, they likely would be visible, but only just.

After her initial shock, the twelve-year old had accepted the injury with surprising grace. If she didn't exactly love the scars, she had certainly embraced them and, at this point, Nicky seemed more bothered by their presence than she did. Hannah may not have been the daughter of a particularly warlike Olympian, but she was still Roman and Camp Jupiter tended to view scars the way other people viewed a cool, new hairstyle or a particularly stylish shirt.

Nicky though, gods help him, seemed to have inherited every ounce of my fatal flaw as his own, and I knew the fact that Hannah had been hurt that day weighed heavily on him. He'd told me as much, but given how intimately I understood how that particular flaw worked, I knew no amount of reassurance from anyone, even Hannah herself, would ease the guilt he felt until he made peace with it himself and began to see the scars as a reminder that she'd survived rather than that she'd been hurt. It was a process. He'd get there.

For the moment, he studied the misshapen skin below his friend's ear not with any overwhelming remorse or guilt that I could see, but with willful disinterest that he tried hard to make reality. He was trying. It only lasted a few seconds before Hannah, feeling his gaze on her, turned and met it with her own. She offered a small smile upon finding his eyes on her and he returned it before looking away, back at the board where Carly was slowly working at cornering and cutting him off. Hannah eyed him for another second, like she knew as well as I did what her friend had been thinking, before she too shifted her attention back to the game and the moment was lost.

I turned away before either could catch me watching them and rounded the island to where Annabeth stood. I kissed her temple and settled against the counter beside her. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied. She straightened minutely but waited an extra few seconds to finish shading the edge of the tower she was sketching before looking at me. "How was work?"

"Good," I said, "How's yours?"

"Alright." She smirked. "I figured I'd take advantage of the quiet while everyone was distracted."

I studied the sketch over her shoulder. "Office building?" I guessed.

"Doctors' office. It's actually going up in town."

"Really?" I asked, "Where?" It wasn't unusual for her firm to contract outside of the city, but such projects didn't usually fall so close to home.

"That old industrial plaza off the highway. It's been empty for years."

"Where they tore down that warehouse?"

She nodded. "They're finally doing something with the space." She smirked playfully, rolling her eyes up to mine. "You can pass the new office every day on your way to work and think of me."

I grinned back. "You say that like I won't actually do it."

She exhaled in a laugh but looked appreciative of that answer. She glanced away then and at the clock above the stove. It was a few minutes to five. "You're home early," she commented.

I shrugged. "It was a slow afternoon. I figured Brad could handle an hour on his own."

"Well, in that case," she said, turning back to her work, " _You_ should make dinner and let me finish this."

"Thanks," I snorted but asked, "Did you have anything particular in mind?"

She shrugged a shoulder, pencil in hand again, "There's ground beef in the fridge that needs to be either cooked today or put in the freezer. You can use that." She nodded vaguely toward the other end of the counter, where a bowl held a couple of tomatoes she'd bought early in the week. "Those too."

I considered that and then nodded as triumphant laughter erupted from my daughter across the kitchen. "How?" Hannah demanded good-naturedly.

Nicky just shook his head, looking from the game board to his sister. "You shouldn't be this good," he said flatly. This elicited another giggle from Carly and he smiled now too. "Like, seriously, you win _every_ time."

"I'm better than you," she informed him, playfully and without antagonism. Hannah began laughing in earnest.

I chuckled myself and noticed Annabeth's lips twitching up in a smile as well. "She _is_ scary good at that game," I murmured loudly enough for her ears only.

She smiled, depicting a careful archway at the entrance to the doctors' office, and matched my pitch. "Good. It's about time one of our kids took after me."

I raised an eyebrow that she didn't see. "I'm sorry, have you _met_ our oldest?"

She laughed and swatted my arm. "That's not what I meant."

I smiled. "I know."

She met my eyes now, amusement shining in her features. "It's a good thing too. The poor girl needs some logic to balance out the impulsiveness she inherited from _you_."

"I think I turned out okay," I offered.

"Only because I made sure you did."

"Oh, thanks so much."

She laughed. "You're welcome. Now go start dinner and stop distracting me."

"So bossy," I murmured. Annabeth, without so much as looking up, threw an eraser at me with deadly accuracy. Laughing, I turned away and raised my voice, addressing the kids, "What do you want for dinner, guys—spaghetti and meat sauce or tacos?"

"Tacos!" Carly answered immediately.

"Definitely tacos," Nicky agreed.

I chuckled, unsurprised. For whatever reason, that meal had always been a crowd pleaser in our house. "I thought so. What about you, Hannah? Are you staying for dinner?"

"Um, if I can, sure," she replied, "My parents are going out tonight so I was just going to eat leftovers."

"We're fine with it if they are."

"Thank you," she said. I smiled at her in response.

Logan appeared in the kitchen then, cell phone in hand. "We're having tacos?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered, pulling the beef Annabeth had mentioned from the refrigerator, "That okay with you?"

"Yes," he said with conviction, walking toward the counter opposite his mom. He stopped there, resting his elbows atop it. "Can I go to Jarrod's tomorrow to play video games?"

"When?" Annabeth asked, looking up.

"I dunno. After lunch?"

"Do you have homework?"

"Just math. I'll do it before I go though."

She nodded approvingly and then turned to me. I shrugged. "Fine with me."

"Cool. Thanks," Logan said. He wandered over to where his siblings and Hannah sat then; answering the question Nicky asked him about which games Jarrod had. Hannah, meanwhile, helped Carly round up all the game pieces and put everything back into the box before the younger girl left to put it away. Then, apparently uninterested in the boys' conversation, she wandered over and asked if she could help with dinner.

"Sure," I told her, mixing the cooking meat atop the stove. She hardly counted as a guest by this point anyway. "Do you know how to cut tomatoes?"

She nodded and, after finding the necessary materials for the task with surprising ease in a kitchen that was not her own, she set to work next to me. After a few seconds, she smiled down at the countertop. "Did Nick tell you how my mom bought a tomato plant last year?"

I looked over at her, and then at Nicky, who was still talking to Logan and not paying attention. "No."

Hannah gave a laugh now. "Well, she got one last summer, right after I went to camp. She was really excited about it."

I smirked, looking at her. "And?"

She laughed again. "My mom does not have a green thumb. Like, _at all_." She fought a smile. "It didn't even survive the summer."

"Oh, man," I said, chuckling.

"Yeah. I think she thought I'd like it once I got home, because of my godly mom and everything, but it's probably good that it died."

"The Demeter kids at Camp Half-Blood were always really good with that sort of thing," I said, stirring the browning ground beef, "You don't think you are?"

She shrugged, moving on to the second tomato now, "I don't know. Maybe. I don't really care, I guess." She paused and then smirked. "Go figure. I'm a daughter of Ceres and I hate gardening. "

I grinned. "You know what? It's okay. I know a daughter of Zeus who's afraid of heights, so it happens." Hannah laughed.

Annabeth looked up then and at me with an expression that clearly communicated how quickly said daughter of Zeus would kill me for telling the young half-blood as much. But though she tried to fight it, she was smiling too. I smirked at her. She rolled her eyes and looked away, only smiling wider.

She looked back down then at her work spread before her and, apparently satisfied with her progress for the night, straightened to gather the papers into a neat pile. "Boys," she said, picking them up off the counter, "Clean and set the table for dinner, please." She left the room then and returned a minute later, empty-handed, and set to gathering the rest of the necessary ingredients for the meal while Logan and Nicky set out places for everyone. Carly, by now, had returned. Annabeth handed her a bowl to bring to Hannah for lettuce and tomato.

Overall, the six of us made a good team. Dinner was ready in no time.

And when we all sat down together to eat, I decided that quiet, uneventful nights like this one were probably my favorite kind.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!  
**


	24. Beating Fate

**Hey!**

 **Turns out, hurricane closures allow a lot of time for writing. The power hasn't gone out yet, so I'm posting this before it does! I have been waiting to write this part of the story for so long and I'm so excited to have finally reached it. Originally, I didn't plan to have this update work out the way it did, however I really enjoyed how it came out and I hope you do too! The next chapter, pending the availability of internet access during the coming storm, will hopefully be up within the next few days. I will do my very best. Thanks everyone for sticking around and please enjoy this update!**

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The door of my parents' apartment needed a new coat of paint. I studied the familiar faded green of it, warped and peeling in places now where I knew it definitely hadn't always been, waiting to be let inside.

My mom and I first moved in back when it was just the two of us, shortly after I returned home from my first summer at camp. I was thirteen. Smelly Gabe had no longer been an issue and we had the freedom to go wherever we wanted. In the end, we'd only moved a few blocks over, but the building was newer and the apartments were nicer, and neither of us had ever looked back.

Paul moved in a few years later and, a few years after that, I'd moved out, first to attend college, and then for good a few years later when Annabeth and I got married. It had been almost seventeen years now since I'd called this apartment home, but it still held a special place in my heart and, at least until my mom and Paul moved out, it probably always would.

Pending trips away from the city for rescues or the like, I usually spent my days in Manhattan for work, and as such, I tried to stop by to see my mom at least once a week during my lunch break. Annabeth sometimes came with me on days when she went into the office, but I was alone today. It also wasn't lunchtime, but later in the day. I'd just got off work.

The door opened now to reveal my mom, wearing a questioning expression—I normally just walked in. "My key's in the car," I told her, grinning, by way of both explanation and greeting. I stepped inside and wrapped an arm around her once she closed it behind me.

She smiled and shook her head before stretching to kiss my cheek. "How are you?"

"Good. Did Paul leave yet?"

She nodded. "You just missed him. Thank you for doing this, honey."

"'Course," I smiled, "It's not like we don't have extra rooms right now anyway."

Courtesy of the occupants of the apartment above theirs, the ceiling of my parents' kitchen and living room was severely water-damaged and at risk for mold and structural compromise. It needed to be replaced and the landlord was having it done this week. But the project would take a few days and my parents couldn't exactly live in the apartment while it was happening. Conveniently, Paul had signed up months ago to chaperone a 2-day field trip to Washington D.C. with his freshmen class that happened to fall during this same week, but this still left my mom with nowhere to go. Rather than force her to get a hotel room, we'd invited her to stay with us. With the kids on spring break this week, it was hardly the least we could do. I had come to pick her up and take her home with me.

She smiled. "Are the boys at camp already?"

I nodded. "I dropped them off last night. It's just Carly and Annabeth at home."

"Sounds quiet," she replied with a smirk.

"Don't speak too soon," I joked. She laughed. "Do you have everything?" I asked, "I was hoping to beat the worst of the traffic."

"Yup," she answered, pointing beside us to a bag waiting by the door. "Ready when you are. Are you sure you don't need me to bring anything? Food?"

"Mom, no," I said, "Seriously, just bring you. We're fine."

She eyed me for a second but conceded with an "Alright."

I smirked and turned to pick up her bag. Shouldering it, I asked, "Ready?"

"Yeah, let me just grab the lights." She turned and flipped a handful of switches throughout the kitchen and hallway, and then returned, purse in hand. "Lead the way," she said with a smile.

I stepped to the door and opened it. She walked with me out into the hallway and, after locking the door behind us, we were off.

"Are you all still planning on coming over for Easter next week?" my mom asked when we reached the parking lot.

"I think so," I answered, "Unless you and Paul change your mind about having all of my kids over at once."

She scoffed playfully. "I raised _you_ , Percy. The three of them are angels by comparison."

I gave a surprised laugh. " _Thanks_ , Mom."

She laughed with me as we reached the car. She climbed in the passenger seat beside me and said, "Yes, I want you all over." Her tone turned playfully serious then. "Do you know how long it's been since I've seen my grandchildren, Perseus? Almost three weeks. _Three._ That's two and a half weeks too long."

" _Has_ it been that long?" I asked, "Carly's birthday…"

"Was almost three weeks ago," she supplied with a grin as I pulled out onto the street

I considered that for a second. "Wow."

Mom laughed. "Welcome to my world." I shook my head, stopping at a red light. "I've found the older you get, the faster time seems to go by."

"I believe it," I said. I shook my head again, accelerating as the light changed again, "I mean, Logan is _fifteen_. How is that even possible?"

"Oh, it's possible," she smirked.

"I'm not old enough to have a fifteen year old."

She smirked. "You're going to be forty this year, you know."

I groaned. "Don't remind me. You know Annabeth found gray in my hair the other day?"

"You're telling me," my mom said, lifting a piece of her shoulder-length hair, which by now contained far more gray than brown.

"She laughed at me for a solid hour," I added, "I'm pretty sure it made her whole week."

Mom laughed. "Her day is coming. It's just more obvious in dark hair."

"Yeah, I know…"

Still smirking, she went on, "You've been pretty lucky actually. Most men gray well before forty. And more than just a stray hair or two. Paul did."

"I'm not complaining," I said lightly, stopping at another intersection as a handful of pedestrians stepped out onto the crosswalk in front of us.

"Its probably your father's genes in you."

"I thought it was the mom's side that determined most of that," I said, glancing over at her, "Annabeth and I had that conversation when she was pregnant with… Nick, I think. She looked it up."

"I've heard that it is," my mom allowed, "but my father died at thirty-three and he was already nearly bald, so I think it's safe to say Poseidon's genes were dominant with you." She said this last part with a smirk, eyeing my dark hair, which, admittedly, was still nearly as thick and unruly as it had been in high school.

I grinned. "Well, in that case, I'm glad they were."

Her smile grew to match mine. "So am I." She grew quiet after that, and when she spoke up again half a minute later, her tone was much more serious. "There was a day when I didn't know if you'd live to see sixteen, Percy," she said, her eyes on the road and traffic before us, "You can laugh and complain about getting older, but I honestly can't wait to see you become gray and wrinkled, honey. Because it will mean you survived long enough to get that way, to live." And then, with half a smirk again, she added, "Even if I'm even grayer and more wrinkled than you are."

I gave a small smile, my eyes on the road as we inched ever closer to the highway entrance. "I tried to keep the worst parts from you back then."

"I know you did."

My smile grew and I cast a sideways look at her. "I'm guessing now that you knew most of it anyway."

"Of course I did. I'm your mother. I knew everything."

"You never told me."

She shook her head. "It helped you to think I didn't know. You were always trying to protect me."

"I didn't want you to worry."

"I know. But there was no avoiding that, honey. Every second you were out of my sight, even if it was only to go to school, I worried."

"It was probably naïve to think that just because I kept everything from you, you didn't know what was going on. At least with the first prophecy."

"I did. I knew about the first Great Prophecy before you were even born. Your father told me after he found out I was pregnant. With the second, I was kept pretty well in the dark until your detour in Rome. Chiron came to let me know where you and Annabeth were and he told me everything then." She allowed a small smile to grace her lips and she glanced at me. "If I hadn't been so worried about you, I would have wrung your neck for not telling me."

I smiled at her words, but what she said resonated with me. "You went my whole life… for sixteen years you knew what would happen… that I'd probably die." I shook my head, merging onto the highway at last. Once we were in the lane and moving smoothly along with the rest of the traffic, I glanced at her. "How…?"

"How did I not go crazy?" my mom said wryly, "There were times when I came close, trust me. When your father first told me, I was only a few weeks along. I was absolutely devastated. I didn't know what to do. He left it up to me to decide. I thought it would probably be best for everyone if I just ended the pregnancy right there, but I couldn't even think about that. You were _alive_ —you had a heartbeat. And I already loved you so much. Even with the prophecy, I couldn't just kill you." She paused, her eyes faraway. I listened in silence. This was the first time I was hearing any of this. She continued, "So, I decided to keep you and raise you, and to love you for as long as the Fates allowed me to have you.

"When you were born, even though I was on my own and nearly broke, I knew I'd made the right decision. You were so perfect. I was in love, and I would have done anything to keep you safe." She swallowed hard against the sudden emotion in her voice.

"You were four when I met Gabe." My grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly at the very mention of him, but I stayed silent, listening. I knew this part of the story, but I didn't want to interrupt as she went on. "That incident in preschool with the snake during naptime had just happened and I knew things would only get worse if I didn't do something. I had to find a way to protect you." She gave a short, unamused laugh. "He didn't know it, but Gabe was the perfect man for the job. I got stuck standing next to him on a crowded subway one day on my way home from work. He was absolutely disgusting. So I led him on and he took the bait almost too easily. We eloped after a few weeks." She shook her head. "You despised the man. And I was absolutely miserable but you were safe. For a while, nothing more happened and I knew my plan was working." I reached across and took her hand in one of mine, continuing to drive with the other. I would never be able to repay my mom for everything she'd done for me.

"There were incidents every few months," she said. "You had a hard time in school, but I had no reason to think you needed camp yet. I wanted to keep you in the dark for as long as possible. Poseidon told me it would get much worse once you knew." She glanced wistfully at me. "He was right." She took a breath. "I nearly had a fit when Grover showed up at the cabin that night and I found out things had happened and you'd kept them from me. I was so scared I would lose you even sooner than I thought…" She trailed off. I squeezed the hand I still held. "In the end," she added, "going to camp was the best thing for you. You were so happy there and you handled the truth so well. You were like a different boy when you came back after that first summer. And with Gabe taken care of, things were better than they'd maybe ever been." She smiled.

"Still, every monster you fought and every quest you went on, time seemed to stand still. You were all I could think about. I spent the days and weeks praying to the gods to bring my baby home again. But you were so _good_ , Percy. And with your friends, with Annabeth, you were… you were amazing." She smiled sadly and looked at me. "I thought I had made peace with what I thought was your fate. But as your sixteenth birthday and the war grew closer, I dreaded it more and more. Because I couldn't lose you. Maybe it was selfish of me to have had you at all, but you were the best thing that had ever happened to me and sixteen years was not nearly long enough. Even if I had Paul, the thought of not having you anymore almost broke me."

She paused now and blinked back the tears that had begun filling her eyes. "But then you _won_ ," she said shakily, "You came home to me and I was so _relieved._ I didn't know what we were supposed to do now that it was over. And for those four months, life was absolutely perfect."

"And then I disappeared," I said when she didn't immediately continue.

"And then you disappeared," she repeated in confirmation, "And, Percy, I had never been so worried in my life. You always found a way to let me know where you were before, that you were okay, but this time no one knew _anything_. And I knew if you left Annabeth behind, something was very wrong." She studied the road before us. "I think I really did go a little crazy during those six months. I really scared Paul," she added this part with a dry smile. "And I'm not sure how much better it was after Chiron came and told me you and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus. Because that was certain death if I'd ever heard it."

She shook her head and then took a deep breath and looked at me. "I _don't_ know how I stayed sane through everything, Percy," she said, "I just never stopped loving you. I never stopped believing in you. And I just told myself over and over again not to lose hope until I knew for sure you were gone." She squeezed my hand still in hers. "And baby, you don't know how thankful I am that you always did come home again. That I got to see you grow up after all, it's the biggest blessing I've ever received."

There was silence between us then for the better part of a minute. "I don't think I could have done what you did," I said quietly, breaking it, "I didn't understand everything I put you through back then, but now…" I shook my head. I couldn't imagine knowing my child was destined to die his entire life. It would have killed me.

She let go of my hand and I placed it back on the steering wheel. "You could have," she replied softly, "You're a good father, Percy, and you absolutely could. I'm just grateful you don't have to." I felt her eyes on me for a moment and then heard her laugh. "Weren't expecting all that, were you?"

I gave a laugh myself. "No, not at all," I admitted. "Thanks for putting up with me, Mom."

"My pleasure." She smiled. "Now tell me how the kids are."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the conversation had turned far lighter and I was navigating the car through our neighborhood. My mom was laughing, recounting the story of Paul's failed attempt at cooking dinner a few nights earlier. "I'm telling you, Percy," she said, "I love the man to pieces and he really is so smart, but he can't follow a recipe to save his life. I've never seen broccoli so rubbery. I didn't even think that was possible."

"Poor Paul," I said, laughing myself.

"He amazes me with the things he knows how to do," she said, "But cooking is simply _not_ one of them."

"You've got to give him points for trying, at least," I said, grinning, as I turned onto our street.

"I do." She was still smiling as I pulled into the driveway and parked next to Annabeth's car. I opened the door and got out. I could hear Ollie barking from inside, which wasn't _too_ unusual—he occasionally barked at things outside, though he seemed more worked up than usual. I grabbed my mom's bag from the back seat and walked around to meet her on the other side of the car. Ollie was still barking as we started for the door. "Somebody's excited," my mom commented.

"Yeah…" I said. It was odd that he hadn't quieted yet. He wasn't typically obnoxious like that. It made sense a second later though when a scream sounded, unmistakably my daughter's. Muffled as it was, coming from inside, the fear in it was unmistakable. She sounded terrified. Something was very wrong.

I cursed in Ancient Greek and sprinted for the door now, reaching for Riptide as I ran.

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 **Thanks for reading. Stay safe, everyone!**


	25. A New Journey Begins

**Hi guys!**

 **Sorry, I really did mean to have this up sooner with the cliffy in the last chapter. It's been an interesting week. But it's here now and I hope you like it!**

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The front door was unlocked—not too unusual given people were home. I flung it open, rushed inside, and left it standing wide open behind me. My mom was still outside somewhere, but for now she was the least of my worries. If there was a monster in the house, and I was pretty certain there was, it wouldn't be interested in my fully mortal mother.

If possible, Ollie's barking grew more frantic at my entrance. I followed the sound to the living room's far wall. Carly sat, curled on the floor and backed as far into the corner as she could go, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed. Ollie stood defensively in front of her, ears back and hackles raised as his angry barking reached ear-splitting levels. He growled menacingly when I came into view, but backed off some once he recognized me. He didn't leave my daughter's side for an instant, but he continued barking, warning this time, his eyes now focused intently behind me.

"Daddy!" Carly cried over Ollie's noise. She gave no reaction whatsoever to the sword I gripped in my hand. In light of everything else, it was probably a far smaller shock. My heart ached to rush to her but I couldn't comfort her just yet. Ollie, that great dog, had her covered.

"Where's Mommy?" I demanded of my daughter now, even as I turned away, scanning the room for signs of a fight. The tiniest part of my mind recognized the fact that after this, our cover was blown. There would be no more hiding the truth from our youngest child. We would need to tell her. I pushed the thought aside as quickly as it had sprung up. There were more important things right now.

"I don't know!" Carly sobbed in reply now, "She went that way," she pointed shakily in the general direction of the kitchen. "There's a—" A crash rose up then from the place she'd indicated and she broke off. I was already moving.

" _Stay there!"_ I yelled behind me, "It's okay! Stay with Ollie!" I didn't wait for her answer but I could have sworn I saw her nod as I turned the corner.

The first floor of our house was arranged in a fairly open plan. A single wall separated the living room from the kitchen and across the way, with an island in the middle, was the formal dining room, which rarely saw use these days. It was in here where I hit pay dirt after turning the corner into the kitchen, quickly but quietly, my sword leading the way.

I entered in time to see Annabeth, beautifully fierce and obviously annoyed, fighting dagger to fang with a blonde-haired empousa. The latter's bronze leg scraped against the wood floor as she moved, striking out with little success and then moving to defend herself from my wife's retaliation. It was hard to tell how long they'd been going at it. Neither looked particularly tired, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

The monster glanced over for the tiniest instant at my entrance, which proved just enough of a distraction to provide Annabeth the smallest opening. She took it and began moving in offense a millisecond before the empousa did. The she-demon lashed out in response, fangs bared, and, before I could do anything, launched herself at Annabeth. The latter was already moving and had probably expected as much from her opponent. She diverted the assault but the empousa, who was maybe smarter than she appeared, changed course at the last minute. Fangs connected with flesh. Annabeth barely reacted as teeth penetrated deep into her forearm and tore down. The bold move had left the she-demon exactly where she needed to be and my wife drove her dagger home, right beneath the monster's collarbone and straight through her heart. With a shriek of outrage and pain, the empousa exploded into golden dust. It showered Annabeth like golden snow as she straightened and I reached her.

It had been a beautiful kill, but not exactly a clean one. Blood seeped slowly from Annabeth's wounded forearm but she was remarkably unfazed. It was spared only the quickest glance before her eyes fell on me. "Nice of you to show up," she said half-heartedly, "Where's Carly?"

"Kitchen," I replied, eyeing her arm myself. The skin was torn almost from wrist to elbow and was cut pretty deep in some places, but she'd survive with a little Nectar. She was lucky. "She's okay. We should get that closed up."

"I'm fine," she dismissed me, already moving toward the door. "We need to get her. I don't know how that thing got in, but she saw everything."

I sighed through my nose but I'd figured as much. With a last glance behind her at the glittering dust covering the floor, I fell into step beside her.

Unsurprisingly, my mom had not waited outside cowering while I'd run inside to save my family from the horror within. She was with Carly when we entered the room, right there on the floor with her, holding her granddaughter to her as the nine-year old trembled in her arms. Ollie diligently stood guard over them. His ears perked up slightly when he saw us, and then he was off, hauling tail past us to ensure the threat really was gone.

His movement alerted Carly to our presence and at once, she was up off the floor and running for her mother. Annabeth reached out for her with one arm, keeping the other firmly cradled to her chest—probably more to keep the worst of it from her daughter than out of any real concern for it. "C'mere," she breathed, bending slightly and embracing her tightly with her good arm. "It's okay," she said into Carly's curls as the latter cried into her, " _Shh_. It's okay, honey. It's gone. It's okay."

Hardly ten seconds had passed. I was about to turn for the hallway and the linen closet where we kept the first-aid kit when my mom, already on her feet and moving, met my eyes. "Stay here," she ordered, "I've got it." After raising me, she could sniff out injuries like a bloodhound. I nodded my thanks. She laid a gentle hand on my arm as she passed.

Carly was still crying into Annabeth's shoulder, her arms locked around her neck in a death grip. " _Shh_ ," the latter murmured to her again and again, calming her.

"What was that?" Carly demanded now, her voice muddled with tears and muffled against her mother's shirt.

"It was a monster," Annabeth told her gently but honestly, her hand moving back and forth on her back, "It's gone now. It's okay."

Carly didn't say anything more, but her grip on Annabeth remained firm. I would have given anything to know what she was thinking.

The sobs had quieted by the time my mom walked back in with the medical supplies. Annabeth, aware of her return, met my eyes overtop our daughter's head. In them, I could read everything. She would let Carly go and she would see that she was bleeding. I needed to step in before that happened.

We probably should have told her earlier, but how was anyone supposed to know something like this would happen? We'd never been attacked in our own home before and we were always careful out in public. Especially with Carly. But everyone was okay and that was what mattered. Every half-blood had to learn the truth at some point. It was finally Carly's turn.

And despite how much I longed to keep my little girl young and innocent just a little longer, part of me was relieved at the thought.

"Come here, Peanut," I said softly, stepping forward and laying a hand on Carly's back. She let go of Annabeth and came easily. I wrapped my arms around her and stood, picking her up. She wrapped herself immediately around me.

With her granddaughter now out of Annabeth's arms, my mom moved forward to tend to her injury. The latter allowed her arm to be extended and examined. Carly gasped at the sight of the ugly wound, blood seeping slowly from it. I tightened my grip on her. "It's okay," I murmured as tears again welled in her green eyes. "Come on." I moved to take her out of the room, waving away the piece of Ambrosia my mom offered me.

"She's bleeding," Carly said shakily as I carried her toward the kitchen.

"She's okay," I assured her, "Grandma's got it."

Ollie was still in the dining room, pacing in agitation, sniffing with interest at the monster dust on the floor when he wasn't walking through it and creating an even bigger mess. I called his name, setting Carly atop the counter, and, with a last suspicious sniff at the floor, he trotted over. He stopped and brushed against her legs, draped over the cabinets, and nuzzled her as she brushed a bare foot over his head. I took the opportunity to look her over. "You okay?" I asked, brushing a lingering tear from her cheek, "You aren't hurt, are you?" She shook her head and her eyes once more wandered toward the living room. "She's okay," I reassured her once more, "You'll see. She'll come out in a minute and she'll be totally healed."

Carly looked like she didn't quite believe that. The face she gave me was distinctly _Annabeth_ in nature. "Don't lie, Daddy," she said almost tiredly.

"I'm not," I promised, "Really. Just wait."

The nine-year old still didn't look convinced, but her attention had refocused now on the scattered glitter covering the dining room in golden paw prints. "There was a monster," she said calmly, her voice lined with the tiniest hint of doubt that fought against all she thought she knew to be true. Slowly, her green eyes travelled to land on me again. "I saw it."

I sighed and leaned against the counter beside her, "I know."

"It was a monster?" she repeated uncertainly.

I hesitated for a second, at war with myself. On one hand, I really wanted to wait for Annabeth to do this. We'd always handled telling our kids the truth together. But on the other, Carly needed answers now; she was scared and she deserved to know.

I forwent immediately answering her question in favor of telling her a story. I hoisted myself up on the counter next to her—an action that would probably get me reprimanded by Annabeth later—and started from the beginning: on that fateful day so many years ago now, before I learned the truth myself and everything changed. I didn't leave many details out, because she needed to know and because I knew she could handle it.

And handle it she did. Carly listened with rapt attention as I told her, in only slightly abbreviated detail, about the museum trip with my sixth grade class and what happened there, and then about the night we left for Camp Half-Blood from Montauk and the Minotaur attack that followed. She looked slightly alarmed at times, but was mostly just very interested in "What happened next?"

I was in the middle of recounting the frantic midnight race to camp with an angry Minotaur on our tails when my mom joined us in the kitchen, followed momentarily by Annabeth, who had exchanged her blood stained shirt for a clean one. My recount was interrupted just long enough for Carly to rush to her mother and see that she truly was free of all evidence of what had been a fairly serious injury, save for a fading pink line that now ran the length of her forearm. Upon this discovery, the nine-year old grew only more interested in the story I was telling and how it related both to the day's attack and her mother's miraculous recovery.

Annabeth, after raising an eyebrow at our current seating arrangements, moved our group to the kitchen table. The two joined in listening to my recount of everything; losing my mom, learning about the gods, the first quest, and then the second, the third. Annabeth joined in occasionally to expand on certain things for which she found my explanations lacking.

Start to finish—finish being the resolution of the Giant War, excluding any and all details about Tartarus for the time being, the story took ages to tell. After about an hour of listening on, my mom got up and busied herself in the kitchen putting together dinner and waving off all offers of help from Annabeth. We continued on through a meal of steak, potatoes, and green beans. Carly sat through the whole thing, captivated. The remnants of dinner were cleaned up when the tale reached its end.

"That's it?" she asked now from cross the table.

I blinked at her. "What do you mean, ' _that's it?'_ We've been here for three hours."

"What happened then?" Carly pressed, like I'd left her hanging or something.

Annabeth spoke up from beside her with an amused smile. "We finished school and went to college and then got married. And then we had you and your brothers."

"And then you lived happily ever after but still had to fight monsters," she supplied. I narrowed my eyes.

"Yes," said Annabeth easily. I exhaled a resigned laugh. I just didn't understand women at times—a lot of the time actually.

Carly smiled and considered that, apparently satisfied with this conclusion. "So Logan and Nicky are at that camp now?" she asked. We nodded. "They know everything?"

I nodded again while Annabeth replied, "They found out like you did." This was essentially true. We'd tried to shield all our kids from everything for as long as we could.

"They couldn't tell me," she said simply. It wasn't an accusation or a complaint, just a reasoned fact. Annabeth and I exchanged a glance at the slight insinuation in her tone—it clearly wasn't lost on her that she was the last to know, but Carly didn't seem to require answer to this comment. She looked between us and changed the subject again. "So that monster that was here before," she began, "What was that?"

"That was an empousa," Annabeth answered her, "They're kind of like vampires. They like to attack your dad," She cast me a sidelong glance at this, her tone turning slightly begrudging. Admittedly, it seemed Kelly and her friends had made it a personal mission of theirs to find me every time one of them reformed. My mom's exhaled laugh sounded from somewhere behind me as she puttered around the kitchen, cleaning up from dinner after having informed Annabeth numerous times that she currently had more important responsibilities.

"They like to try," I corrected dryly

"But you… kill them," Carly confirmed, "Right?" She spoke haltingly, like she couldn't quite imagine me killing anything, even evil, blood-sucking demons from the pit of Tartarus itself. I could only nod. She mimicked the action, looking thoughtful and turned to Annabeth again. "And you killed the one before?"

"Yes," Annabeth said softly.

Carly looked contemplative for another moment, "So that time when Logan came home dirty and bloody, he fought a monster too? And that day with Hannah at the lake—" Her eyes widened then and she looked between us, "Hannah saw the monster then. But she doesn't know…"

"Yes, she does," Annabeth said with a small smile, "Hannah's a half-blood too."

The nine-year old's eyes widened. "She _is_?" At her mother's nod, she added, "Did she move here on purpose then?" I smiled.

"No," Annabeth laughed, "She didn't know until after that."

"Does she go to camp too?"

"Not Camp Half-Blood. She's a Roman demigod so she goes to Camp Jupiter in California."

"So… like Emily and Sammy?"

"Right." Annabeth nodded.

Carly digested this information while still more questions danced behind her eyes. She seemed slightly overwhelmed, as she had every right to be. "You okay, Carly?" I asked gently, eyeing her.

She didn't answer at first and then, quietly, she asked, "Am I going to have to fight monsters now?"

Annabeth and I once again exchanged glances across the table. I turned my eyes on our daughter again. "Probably," I said quietly, "But not anytime soon if I can help it."

"We'll keep you safe," Annabeth told her tenderly, "Just like we always have. You just didn't know we were before." She reached out and brushed a loose strand behind her ear. "And one day, you'll know how to fight them yourself and you won't even need us to."

"But you'll still protect me anyway," she guessed.

I chuckled. "Until our dying breaths, kiddo." Annabeth smiled at me from beside her.

"Do I get to go to camp now too?" Carly wanted to know, "With Logan and Nicky?"

"You certainly do," Annabeth answered her. The tiniest glint of nostalgia crossed her gray eyes as she did and I knew the thought of sending our youngest off to camp was a heavy one for her as well.

Carly nodded. "Okay." She didn't say anything further.

"That's it?" I asked, "No more questions?" I didn't believe that for a second.

She shrugged and shifted in her seat, her innate restlessness apparently getting the best of her finally. "Not right now," she answered reasonably.

"Okay," Annabeth said lightly from beside her. I recognized as she did that Carly, wise as she was, had drawn her line in the sand for the night. She was nine years old and we'd just dumped a lot on her. If she'd had enough for now, that was that. The conversation was over for the time being. "What do you want to do?"

She shrugged a small shoulder and then looked up. "Play a game?" she asked.

Annabeth smirked at her. "Go pick one."

With a grin, Carly stood to leave the kitchen, calling for my mom to come help her decide. We watched them go in silence. When they'd disappeared around the corner, I turned my eyes on Annabeth. A thought had been gnawing at me for some time now.

"Speaking of empousai," I said and continued as she raised an eyebrow, "I've never seen one attack you by yourself. I know they hate us both, but they normally only prey on men… Why'd she go after you?"

"Because she was looking for _you_ , Seaweed Brain," she answered easily, "I wasn't about to let her get that far."

I smirked. "Of course you weren't."

"I am your wife, remember?" she said lightly, " _Until my dying breath._ " She grinned _._ "But if you prefer, next time I'll invite her in and serve her lemonade until you get home." Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me, even after the roller coaster of the past few hours, and I could only laugh.

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 **Thanks for reading!  
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	26. No More Secrets

**Hey, guys! I am so so so so so so sorry for how long it took me to write this chapter. Between school and work and just overall business, it's been a struggle to find the time and motivation to write. I know there was more than a little concern that I was abandoning this story. I'm not! I promise I will see it through to its end. It just might take a while at times. Thank you for your patience!**

 **With that being said, I'll let you get reading. This update is long and hopefully worth the wait. Enjoy!**

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Carly started asking questions from almost the minute she woke up the next morning and had kept up a constant stream of them basically since, about all the smaller things she'd been too overwhelmed to ask the night before. How did my sword work? How did monsters know how to find half-bloods? What did ADHD have to do with anything? She asked about camp, the prophecies, the Oracle. She asked how it was possible that Thalia had become immortal if she'd once been like the rest of us. She asked why Rachel _wasn't_ immortal if the Oracle she housed within her was. How did the Mist work? What made Grandma special that she could see through it and others couldn't? How did Grandpa manage to kill an empousa during the war if he couldn't see it? If the gods were all related, did that mean their children all were too?

And then there was, of course, my personal favorite: If the Olympians were immortal, super powerful gods, why did they need their kids to fix all their problems for them? Annabeth and I had just looked at each other and laughed before informing her that that was a good question and one that we still had yet to figure out ourselves.

The interrogation continued right up until we crested the top of Half-Blood Hill and she broke off mid-sentence to take in the entirety of Camp Half-Blood sprawling before her.

Spring was well underway in New York now and the weather was cool but not uncomfortable as the sun shone down on the place, as familiar to me as my own house. Many of the campers who normally went home for the school year had apparently, like our boys, returned for spring break. The place was more crowded than it normally was during the year as orange-clad half-bloods moved about below us; some playing volleyball, others carrying weapons toward the arena. Children of Demeter moved within the strawberry fields, readying them for the summer harvest. The lake glittered in the April sunlight, a single canoe on its surface held the only campers brave enough to brave the brisk water. Beyond it, the climbing wall spewed lava. Nearby, a familiar-looking half-blood landed his Pegasus outside the stables, caught sight of us, and waved. Annabeth and I returned the gesture. Carly, caught up in everything else, missed the whole exchange.

After several seconds of silence in which she gaped with wide green eyes, she managed a weak, "Whoa."

I grinned and looked down at her. "Pretty cool, huh?"

" _This_ is camp?" she demanded.

"Yup." She stared down at it for another second, her eyes sparkling.

"Do you want to go down?" Annabeth asked, smiling.

"Yes!" she said quickly. Excitement oozed out of her every pore but she waited for us to lead the way down the hill.

In the years following the Titan and Giant wars, it had been nearly impossible for Annabeth and me to do anything at camp without being watched incessantly by younger, hero-worshipping half-bloods who'd been too new to camp to know us, rather than the celebrities the stories circulating around had made us into. It hadn't been too long after that school and work and life had made our attendance at camp events irregular at best, and, despite our efforts, the pedestal we were placed on never really went away.

By now though, the half-bloods who had been campers when we had, even those far younger than us, were all adults themselves, having and sending their own kids to Camp Half-Blood. We were no longer immediately recognized on sight unless someone took it upon themselves to call attention to us. But most who knew us knew how ardently we opposed such behavior so it rarely happened. As the attention died down more and more over the years, I'd grown increasingly grateful. It was a bigger blessing than I was willing to admit, our restored anonymity, for the boys and now Carly as much as for Annabeth and me.

We did receive numerous smiles and waves from familiar faces as we made our way down the hill, but no one flocked to us, no one ogled, and no one, thank the gods, asked for autographs—it had happened more than I wanted to admit and it had never grown any less mortifying.

A blond camper in an orange shirt caught sight of us on his way out of the arts and crafts building. Smile spreading across his face, Caleb Grace, Jason and Piper's eleven-year old son, ran over to greet us. He came up slightly short when he grew close and noticed Carly. Our families interacted enough that the young Graces were well aware that the youngest Jackson had still been in the dark. Carly offered her cousin a small wave. Caleb looked from her to Annabeth and me, the question plain in his multicolored eyes—so much like his mother's. Annabeth's nod must have been answer enough because he smiled then and looked back at Carly. "How'd you find out?" he asked.

"A monster got in the house," Carly replied with surprising nonchalance considering the state she'd been in when it had actually happened.

"Whoa," Caleb said with interest, looking between us now, "What happened?"

"Mom killed it," she answered him before either of us could, "How did you find out?"

He grinned. "When I was eight, I was snooping around my dad's office when I wasn't supposed to and accidentally found his sword." I'd heard the story firsthand from Jason when it had initially happened, but the recount still brought a smile to my face. Caleb grinned himself, "Yeah, I got in a lot of trouble, but they had to tell me the truth after that." Carly giggled.

I shook my head, still smirking. "Caleb, do you know where Chiron is?"

"I think he's teaching class still. He's probably almost done though." He looked between us, "Is Carly gonna stay at camp?"

"That's up to her," Annabeth replied, with a glance at our daughter who looked between us herself and then shrugged.

He nodded, understanding, and did not pressure her. "Are you gonna be here for a while?" he asked us.

"Probably at least through lunch," Annabeth replied.

"Cool," Caleb said with a smile as a fellow camper called his name from the edge of the nearby volleyball courts, drawing his attention away.

"Go have fun," Annabeth told him, smiling. "We'll see you later."

"Okay," he answered, already moving, before pausing and looking back, "Want to meet some of my friends?" he asked of Carly, who still stood close beside her mother. She looked immediately unsure.

"Um…" she said noncommittally. I took pity on her.

"Maybe in a little while, alright, bud?" I said for her, "We're going to go find Chiron and show her around a little bit."

Caleb nodded like that was a reasonable plan. "Okay. See you later!" He lifted a hand in a wave and then turned for the courts and the waiting campers once more. I watched him go for a second before looking back to Annabeth and Carly. The latter was again glancing around the camp in interest.

"Alright," I said, drawing her attention again. I pointed. "So this is the arts and crafts building. They have all kinds of stuff to do in there. And that's the Big House. Chiron's office is in there, and the infirmary. Important meetings always happen in there."

"You met mom in there," Carly said with a smile, piecing together the details from the stories we'd told her.

I smiled and met Annabeth's sparkling eyes before looking back at Carly again. "Yeah, I did." Officially anyway. I'd first seen her on the edge of consciousness at the foot of Half-Blood Hill, but formal introductions hadn't occurred until days later.

Carly looked past the arts and crafts building now, to the cabins, as mismatched as always, beyond. "What are those?" she asked.

"The cabins," Annabeth answered, smiling. "Come on," she said before the nine-year old got the chance to ask and led her further into camp.

Campers' schedules kept them busy for the majority of the morning, so the cabins were mostly empty save for the occasional half-blood running back to gather armor or books he or she had left behind. Carly looked with interest at each of the cabins and went inside Athena's when given the chance. Cabin Six, diligent as its occupants were, was empty, but we found Cole, my sixteen-year old half-brother, rushing out the door of Cabin Three as we approached, hair rumpled and still strapping half his armor crookedly on—after oversleeping, we'd learn later. He froze and seemed to forget about his lateness when he saw us though. He grinned, immediately recognizing his niece, though he'd never formally met her. "You finally told her!"

"Didn't really have much choice," I offered, but Cole paid me little attention, looking instead at Carly.

He introduced himself and then smiled at her. "Molly's gonna be stoked to have another Poseidon girl around here." Molly, fifteen, was the only current female occupant of Cabin Three. She and ten-year old Tucker were year-round campers. Cole, as far as I knew, still lived with his mom in Connecticut during school months, though he tended to jump back and forth from year to year.

While Poseidon had been adding siblings here and there over the twenty-three years since the Titan War, our numbers were still far lower than most of the other cabins. It was a fact I honestly could only be grateful for. To the best of my knowledge, I had five younger siblings currently. Jake and Hannah, both now in their early twenties, were in college and weren't much better in their camp attendance than Annabeth and I had been at their age. They were around occasionally during the summer and that was about it.

Carly, for her part, looked only mildly shell-shocked. We'd told her this morning over breakfast about Cole and his siblings—my siblings, but meeting everyone and seeing everything in person was undoubtedly a lot to take in. She offered an uncertain smile at Cole.

"She could decide to stay in the Athena cabin, you know," Annabeth put in from beside her with an easy smile.

"But why would she want to," Cole retorted with a playful grin, "when Poseidon is so much cooler?"

I almost choked on the laugh I held back. Annabeth's eyebrows rose, but amusement sparkled in her gray eyes. "Aren't you late for a sword class?" she asked him sweetly, ever the tolerant sister-in-law.

Cole, apparently, had forgotten as much. His eyes widened now and he started to swear in Ancient Greek before his eyes fell on the nine-year old in his midst and he caught himself. "Shoot!" he amended instead, already moving, "Yes. I've gotta go!" He left without another word, sprinting for the arena.

We watched him go before Carly turned and stepped forward, peering inside Cabin Three, the door to which was still thrown wide. The sun shone through the open window and the walls sparkled in its light. "It's pretty," she murmured, "This is where Logan and Nicky stay?"

"Yup," I told her, "But you can stay wherever you want."

"How come they like this cabin better?"

"It's less crowded than Mom's old one," I said with a shrug, "And it's more waterproof."

"Why's that matter?" she asked.

"Because with water powers, stuff sometimes gets wet when you don't mean for it to."

She looked a bit confused. "But then… do Logan and Nicky have water power too?"

I nodded. "Didn't I tell you that?"

She shook her head. Maybe it hadn't come up. With everything we'd been over, the details were beginning to blur together. "How come I don't?" Carly pressed, looking to Annabeth now in slight disappointment.

"Maybe you do and don't know it yet," she offered sensibly, "Nicky's didn't work until last winter. But even if you don't, it doesn't matter. Not all half-bloods have powers like that. I don't." She shrugged. "It doesn't mean you're any less talented than they are."

"Yeah, your mom usually still beats me when we spar," I offered ruefully. Annabeth smirked and I knew I was never going to live that down.

Carly didn't look entirely convinced of this, but she asked, "What's a spar?"

"Sparring," Annabeth clarified, "Practice fighting."

"Oh. Do you do that a lot?"

We exchanged easy glances overtop her head. "Not as often as we used to," I said, "But sometimes."

"Can I watch next time?"

Another exchanged glance. I fought a smirk. "We'll see," Annabeth told her, her own lips twitching slightly at the corners. "For now, let's go see if Chiron's done teaching, okay?"

Carly nodded and moved to follow her mother from the cabin.

Campers were streaming from the arena as we walked past, suggesting class had just ended and Cole had been very late indeed. We paused, waiting for the crowd to dissipate before continuing on. A people few offered smiles and waved greetings, but we were largely ignored. Until two familiar-looking teenage boys emerged toward the end of the throng. Cody Rodriguez and Logan walked out together, swords sheathed at their sides as they talked.

Cody, Chris and Clarisse's younger son, noticed us first. He prodded Logan lightly with an elbow and nodded toward us, offering a wave, which we returned. We stood close enough that I could read the expressions on Logan's face. Confusion at first, and then his eyes fell on Carly and widened. "No way," he mouthed, a smile crossing his lips. And then he was running over. "No way!" he said louder and then grabbed his sister under her arms and spun her in a circle. "How'd you find out?" he asked, apparently delighted, looking away from Carly and at Annabeth and me for the first time.

"An empousa got in the house," Annabeth explained, "And she saw everything."

"No way," Logan said a third time, glancing at his sister and back again, "Really? When?"

"Yesterday," Carly answered.

"Was everyone okay?"

"Mommy got her arm cut bad," Carly continued, seeming pleased to know something her brother did not, "But then Grandma healed it. With…" she glanced behind her at us and then looked at Logan again, "with god food."

The fifteen-year old nodded. "So you know everything?" He directed the question at her but asked it of all of us.

"As much as we've been able to tell her between last night and this morning," I answered him.

"So we don't have to keep secrets anymore." It wasn't exactly a question, but I nodded anyway. Beside me, Annabeth mimicked the action. "Thank gods," Logan sighed. "Did you see Chiron yet?"

"We're headed that way now," I said, "He's been teaching since we got here."

The teenager nodded and glanced distantly toward the far off archery field. From our current position, it was hard to tell whether Chiron's class was winding down yet. "He should be done soon," Logan offered, "I'm pretty sure Nicky's in that class. And he's usually done by ten-thirty. We were gonna go to the climbing wall after he got out."

His hand bumped the top of the sheath still strapped to his waist and he glanced down as if just remembering it was there. Casually, without seeming to think about it, he drew his sword out and pressed the small button built into the edge of the hilt that had the blade collapsing back into the thin bronze bracelet, the twin to his brother's, which he slipped onto his wrist. Carly watched the whole thing with wide eyes. Logan noticed her gaze and grinned, unstrapping the now empty sheath from his side. He no longer needed it with class over. "Cool, huh?" he asked her. She nodded.

"Once you decide what type of weapon you like best, we'll get you one like that too," I promised her.

She smiled, her green eyes bright. She looked at Logan again. "Can I go climbing with you?"

"You can try, I guess," he answered her, pointing behind us at the climbing wall, currently turned up to one of the higher levels; lava poured in torrents down its sides. Carly looked where he pointed and her jaw fell open.

"You _climb_ that?" she demanded of her brother, "Are you crazy?"

Annabeth, beside me, gave a surprised laugh. "We would turn the lava off for you, honey." Carly didn't look all that mollified.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Logan offered with a grin. She just eyed him.

Trying to hide my smile, I looked at Annabeth. "Should we head to Chiron?" She nodded.

"If you see Nicky, tell him to meet me at the wall," Logan requested, unfastening the strap of his armor. "I'm going to put this stuff away."

"We will," Annabeth promised, "See you at lunch."

He nodded. With a last smile at his little sister, he said, "Have fun," and then walked off toward the cabins.

Chiron's class was just finishing up when we reached the archery field. All around, campers unslung quivers from their shoulders and moved to retrieve the results of wayward shots. Nicky was, in fact, in this class. His back was to us as he dug arrows out of his target. Most had fallen within the second to last ring of the circle, but a lucky few had landed nearer to the bulls-eye. He wasn't a spectacular shot, but he was way better than I'd been at his age. When he'd maneuvered the last arrow free of the wood, he turned and then did a double take. His eyes widened as he took in Carly's presence here.

He approached us, depositing his retrieved arrows in one of the bins on the way. "You told her?" he asked, a smile playing around the edges of his lips. We nodded and then proceeded to give him the same recount we'd given everyone else.

"It got in the house? That's never happened before, has it?" He looked worried.

"Not at our house," Annabeth said, "But it happens sometimes."

"It happened more than once when I was a kid," I added, though with the amount of ancient evils I'd had on my tail back then, that wasn't exactly surprising.

"Nowhere is completely safe," Annabeth finished.

"Except camp," Nicky countered.

"Except camp," she agreed.

The twelve-year old still looked slightly unsure, but he looked away. "Hey," I said, "It's alright, champ. We—Mom took care of it," I amended, "Everybody's okay."

Nicky nodded again, slightly more believable now, and then looked at Carly. "So," he said, "Do you like it here so far?"

She gave a slow nod. "It's… there's—a lot," she decided.

"Yeah," he agreed. "It's not bad though. I didn't really like it at first, but it really is fun here. And we learn a lot of cool stuff. You'll see." He offered her an encouraging smile, which she hesitantly returned. I risked a glance at Annabeth and found a small, proud smirk on her face as well.

"Well, this is a surprise," a familiar voice said from beside us a moment later. I turned to see Chiron closing the distance to us. He stopped and smiled warmly at Carly. "Am I to assume this one is ready to join the ranks of her brothers here at last?"

Carly just stared at Chiron with wide eyes. And with good reason. No amount of explanation could do the Centaur justice the way really seeing him could. Chiron, for his part, just smiled down at her. "Hello, my dear."

She offered him a small smile. "Hi."

"I'm sure you already know, but I'm Chiron. I'm the activities director here." She nodded. Chiron's smile didn't falter. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pleased to finally see you here again. The last time, you were just a baby."

"I was?" Carly asked, speaking up for the first time. She looked between the Centaur, Annabeth and me, the question plain in her green eyes.

"We brought you here," Annabeth said, nodding, "Your brothers too. After you were born we brought each of you to meet Chiron, and everyone here."

Carly nodded slowly and didn't seem to know what to say. Chiron saved her to trouble by speaking up himself, asking how she'd come to learn the truth. We told the story yet again. When we finished, the Centaur just nodded, looking thoughtful. "Well, I guess you won't be needing the regular orientation video, will you?"

I couldn't escape the laugh that burst from my mouth at that.

Carly wasn't a very shy child by nature and after a few minutes, she'd warmed up to Chiron enough to be comfortable. After Nicky had left to meet Logan as promised, the Centaur gave her an official tour of camp, covering all the places we'd yet to show her ourselves. We ran into a few more familiar faces, including Lilly Stoll and Aspen Underwood, the latter of whom gave us all hugs and informed us he would tell his parents we were here so they could see us before we left. At a little past eleven, Chiron left us at the climbing wall, regrettably informing us he had to check on a few things before lunch, but insisting he would see us later. Carly thanked him with a smile before turning her attention to the climbing wall, one side of which Logan and Nicky were taking turns scaling as it shook and dislodged boulders, spewing lava all the while. Both were pretty adept at it. Carly looked amazed, if not the slightest bit concerned for her brothers.

"Is that really lava?" she asked at one point, just before Nicky's grip on one of the footholds slipped and he swung flat against the wall, yelling in surprise as his T-shirt caught on fire. Carly gasped in horror, her question effectively answered, but Logan was already there, directing a wave of water from the canoe lake and sending it crashing down atop his brother—far more water than was necessary, really, and a fact that was surely not lost to Logan, who grinned playfully up at his now thoroughly drenched little brother, but it did the job.

The display of Logan's power only gave Carly another reason to gape openly. I swallowed my smile.

Once Nicky was back safely on the ground, wet hair plastered to his face and a good portion of the back of his T-shirt burned away, I looked down at Carly. "You sure you don't want to give the wall a try?" I asked, allowing only the slightest of grins. The glare my daughter gave me in reply was so terrifyingly like her mother's, I didn't ask again.

It was the beginning of a whole new chapter, for Carly and for all of us. And despite the sensory overload she was surely feeling right now, from the force behind that single look, I had a feeling my little girl was going to be just fine.

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 **Thanks for reading! I promise I will try to be faster with the next update!**


	27. Busy and Wonderful

**Hey guys!**

 **Here's an update for you. It's a little random and is basically just a filler chapter, but I love the opening scene and I think its good sometimes just to have a little bit of nothing going on, you know?**

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Dreamless sleep is hard to come by as a half-blood. It's even harder to achieve when you're a half-blood who happened to survive a few wars and a trip through Tartarus. Add three children to the mix and forget about it.

Granted, the kids were old enough now _not_ to wake us up at the crack of dawn just because they could, but teenagers came with their own issues. In either case, a night of completely uninterrupted sleep was a rare treasure, and it was something I was immensely enjoying prior to the choked scream and Ancient Greek curse that sounded next to my head before five AM on the Tuesday following spring break.

I was far conditioned enough after all this time that I was awake instantly. I opened my eyes in time to see Annabeth vaulting over me to the other side of the bed. "Oh my gods, kill it," she said, all but hiding behind me now in the small space between my body and the edge of the mattress. "Percy, kill it."

My heart thundering in my chest at the prospect of an attack, I quickly scanned the dark room, only the earliest traces of dawn lighting it enough to barely make out objects and shadows. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I turned quickly to look at her and found her eyes, bright in the dimness, focused on her bedside table. I followed her gaze, squinting at the piece of furniture until I could just make out the small black shape atop it. I released my breath in a rush, relief flooding through me at the fight I would not be having.

I relaxed back into the pillow as my heart rate began to slow. "Gods, Annabeth, give me a heart attack, why don't you?" I thought I heard vague barking from down the hall and hoped Ollie wasn't about to wake the whole house up at her cry.

The spider had been stationary until this point, but began slowly crawling closer to the bed now. My wife's hands were like claws in my bare shoulder as she shied further back and simultaneously shoved me closer at the movement. "Percy Jackson," she said with conviction, "Kill that thing right now or I swear to all the gods, I will divorce you right here."

After nearly eighteen years of marriage, I knew the difference between Annabeth's sincere and idle threats. I wasn't all that worried about her words, but I made to move anyway. She kept a box of tissues on the nightstand behind the eight-legged culprit, and I complied in grabbing one and ending the spider for having the nerve to enter the house of a child of Athena.

Annabeth watched, perched stiffly on the opposite end of the bed, as I got up and carried the squished arachnid into the bathroom and tossed the wadded up tissue into the trash. It would have been funny, had they not affected her so strongly, even after all this time. She'd never done well with spiders, but since encountering Arachne herself in the catacombs beneath Rome years ago and falling into Tartarus as a result, Annabeth's phobia of the spider's descendants had only worsened. I'd seen her cut down hordes of monsters without batting an eye, but anything worse than a Daddy Long-Leg was enough to stop her dead in her tracks. She could force herself, with great effort, to violently end them if she had to, but if I—or anyone else capable—was around, she quickly and forcefully passed off the task.

"Is it dead?" she asked as I fell back into bed and buried my face in the pillow, in her usual spot since she was still in mine.

I turned my head enough to answer, opening one eye. "Aren't you supposed to be a big shot hero of Olympus?" She only didn't answer except to narrow her eyes slightly, waiting. I sighed and closed my eye again, "It's guts are no longer inside its body; it's very dead."

"Thank you."

I hummed a reply and then, turning to look at the display of her alarm clock, groaned. Sunrise was still almost two hours out. "What were you even doing up this early?"

"I got up to go the bathroom, and came back to _that_." Had it not been quarter to five in the morning, I probably would have laughed. With the window shades closed and barely a trace of oncoming dawn outside, it was still almost completely dark in our room. She'd probably spotted the spider by the dim light of her alarm clock alone. I doubted anyone but a child of Athena would have seen it, and even then, probably just her.

"You're lucky I love you," I mumbled.

"Yeah, 'cause you're such a knight in shining armor," she said sardonically, lowering herself down beside me now.

"You should be nicer to me," I said, half-asleep again, "I could make you kill your own spiders."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she murmured, curling into my side now, "Go back to sleep."

Thirty seconds of quiet passed and I was teetering on the edge of unconsciousness again when a knock sounded on the bedroom door. I sighed deeply. "Come in," Annabeth called to the unnamed child waiting in the hall.

The door opened to reveal Logan, pajama-clad and hair rumpled. "Um, I heard a yell and Ollie was barking. Are you guys alright?" he asked, probably fearing the same attack I had minutes earlier.

"Everything's fine, honey," Annabeth told him, "Go back to sleep."

There was a very short pause, and then, "Okay. 'Night," followed by the closing of the door again. I was asleep a minute later.

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"What was that noise super early this morning?" Nicky asked over his cereal bowl a few hours later, while I brewed coffee. Carly stood before Annabeth in the doorway, having her hair braided. "It sounded like a scream, and Ollie was barking his head off."

"Yeah, he wouldn't stop for like ten minutes," Carly complained, "It was still dark outside." I met Annabeth's eyes overtop her head, trying not to smile, "Was it a monster?" Carly piped up, as if remembering that was a possibility.

She hadn't stayed without us that first day at camp, but had requested to be driven back two days later, where she'd stayed the last few days of spring break with the boys in the Poseidon cabin. She'd seemed amazed upon returning home Sunday morning that life was just expected to go on as usual with this new normal she was now privy to.

"No," Logan answered her before either of us could, looking between his siblings imploringly in a way that made me wonder what he thought his mother and I did alone in our room at four-thirty in the morning.

"There was a spider," I explained, both to answer the questions and assuage the rather embarrassing train of thought I'd just boarded. "It was on your mom's bedside table and it scared her."

The kids, aware, to varying extents, of their mother's feelings toward the children of Arachne, accepted the answer without issue. Annabeth didn't speak and looked slightly embarrassed as she tied off the end of Carly's braid. But none of the children were very fond of the creatures either, genetically predisposed as they were, and, if the understanding and slightly agreeing expressions now on their faces were anything to go by, they did not blame their mother one bit. And in all fairness, had I rolled over to find a spider inches from my own nose, I probably wouldn't have been exactly pleased either—I found empathy a far easier task with the slightly later hour of the morning.

"Did you kill it?" Carly asked with surprising savagery, moving toward the table now to pour her own breakfast.

"Yes," Annabeth said with a small smile now, walking farther into the kitchen herself and accepting the mug of coffee I held out to her. The ambiguity of her answer was intentional. I quirked an eyebrow. "Shut up," she muttered under her breath, but her gray eyes sparkled as they met mine. To my own credit, I didn't laugh.

Her hair was down, curling slightly past her shoulders. She wore jeans and a beige sweater, foregoing the business attire to work from home today. On the mornings she went into the office in Manhattan, she typically drove Logan, whose school started earliest, on the way. I was able to go in to work myself a little later those days in order to drop off Nicky and Carly. We swapped kids on the days she was home.

Annabeth gripped the mug in both hands and turned back toward them again. Logan, finished with his breakfast, stood with his bowl now and brought it to the sink. "You almost done, Nicky?" she asked as our oldest left the kitchen in search of his shoes, "Hannah will be here soon. You need to get dressed."

Nicky nodded, tilting his own bowl to his mouth to sip the milk from it. He was running late this morning and had yet to don a shirt.

With three kids in three different schools, mornings were a bit chaotic, getting everyone where they needed to go. At the start of the school year, Hannah had opted to carpool with us over taking the bus, when given the option. She and Nicky went to school together and one of us drove him every day anyway. Her parents were grateful. Hannah hated the bus, but they worked early and were not able to drive her themselves. And Nicky loved any opportunity to be with his best friend.

He hurried to finish and then left the kitchen. He could be heard ascending the stairs a minute later. Annabeth looked at me now. "You should probably get going soon."

I nodded, finishing off the toast I'd been munching on. Since Logan had switched schools the previous, we needed to leave a few minutes earlier to accommodate the longer drive. It was a worthwhile sacrifice. With better programs than his old high school and a fellow half-blood not only on the inside but running the place, I'd never been happier to drive an extra fifteen minutes. Annabeth and I planned to send both Nicky and Carly to Northridge when the time came as well. "You ready, Logan?" I called out of the kitchen.

"Yeah," came his reply from somewhere in the house, "Be right there!"

"Don't forget to schedule an oil change for your car," Annabeth reminded me across the kitchen as I moved toward the table where Carly sat, alone now, picking the marshmallows out of her Lucky Charms. I nodded, coming up behind her chair. "I'll call after I drop Logan off," I promised, and then bent to kiss the nine-year old's cheek. "You've got to eat the actual cereal too, you know," I told her.

"I know," she informed me around a mouthful of sugar, "I just eat the best part first."

I chuckled. "Okay. Have a good day, Peanut. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Nicky walked back in, fully clothed now. Annabeth reached out and attempted to smooth down the back of his dark head, which stuck out in wild angles. He ducked away and attempted to finish the job himself. "Do you know where my science book is?" he asked her.

"Probably still on the coffee table where it was when I told you to put it away yesterday," she answered wryly.

"Oh yeah," he said, turning to go again. She watched him leave and then breathed a laugh, shaking her head.

"He would lose his head if it wasn't attached to his body," I commented, reaching her.

Annabeth turned a raised eyebrow on me. "Where do you think he gets it from?"

"Hey, I have my moments." She just smiled and rolled her eyes. I gave her a quick kiss. "See you later."

"Have a good day."

"Bye, Dad," Nicky said as I turned from the kitchen, emerging from the living room with his textbook in hand.

"Bye, Nick. Have fun at school." I grinned at the look he gave me in response before smiling himself. "Or at least try," I amended.

He laughed. "Okay."

Logan appeared now, backpack slung over a shoulder. "Ready?" I asked him. He nodded. "Let's go," I said, grabbing my own bag from the office and shouldering it.

I followed him out to the driveway a minute later, the brisk morning wind cold against my face, and I thought absently that it probably wouldn't be long before Logan was the one driving _me_ around. The thought was a sobering one. But I climbed into the driver's seat beside him and started the engine. Life was busy and wonderful, and mornings like this one, busy as they always were, were just one of an incredibly long list of things I had to be thankful for.

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 **Thanks for reading!  
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	28. Nothing's Perfect

**Hey guys!**

 **I know I promised last chapter that this update would be posted quicker, and I am so, so sorry that it wasn't. The past few wweks have been busy with finals and work and I just did not have the time or the motivation to work on it. However, the semester is now over and I found the time today to whip up this not-so-little update for you all!**

 **Overall, I can't say the contents are ll that exciting, however there is some plot building and some other important stuff that we will see more of in chapters to come. I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for putting up with me. I truly love you all.  
**

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There aren't many places equipped to handle twenty-plus half-blood families that (a) remain in one piece after we've all left and (b) don't attract every monster in the immediate vicinity. That second requirement really knocks a lot of venues out of the running and that was why Frank and Hazel's fifteenth wedding anniversary party was being held in one of the celebration halls in New Rome.

Outside of the camps' yearly peace celebrations, it was rare for all of our half-blood friends to be together in one place. Even then, not everyone, ourselves included, always attended for one reason or another. So I'd been looking forward to this party for weeks now.

The call from Nico had come two months ago and served as maybe one of the greatest evidences of just how far the son of Hades had come since I'd first met him. Fifteen years, he and Will had decided, was an accomplishment worth celebrating and the two, hopefully with help from Reyna, were throwing a party for the Zhangs. The fact that it was six months early only contributed to the surprise. Nico, who had once been reserved and antisocial to the point of depression, invited us to California for it and offered to Shadow Travel us over there himself. Which was exactly what he had done. The morning of the party, my family met him and Will outside Camp Half-Blood, where he'd brought us all across the country between one blink and the next. Cross-country Shadow Travel, he said, took hardly anything out of him anymore, and sure enough; he didn't even sway as we appeared outside the Caldecott Tunnel—the entrance to the Roman camp—seconds later.

Carly, who had never experienced Nico's preferred method of travel before, stumbled and nearly fell. Will, beside her, placed steadying hands atop her shoulders before I could. "Whoa," he said, "You okay, kiddo?" Carly, wide-eyed, only nodded. Will grinned. "Don't worry. The first time Nico did that with me, I almost lost my lunch." She gave a laugh. Nico, behind them, smirked fondly at the recollection.

We walked as a group through the tunnel and into the hidden entrance to the camp. The two guards on duty smiled and quickly stepped aside for us to pass. The waters of the Little Tiber could be heard before we reached it. A bridge had been constructed across it in recent years, preventing the need for any Moses-like action on my part for everyone to stay dry. Carly took in everything with interest. She'd been to New Rome a few times, but not in recent years and never seeing it the way she was now. We'd spent years doing all we could to shield her, and both boys before her, from the truth of our lives, and while I didn't regret one minute of it, having all three of them in the loop made life incredibly easier—and more fun. They all got to share in our experiences now, and we no longer had to fear unexpected aspects of our lives popping up and blowing our so carefully constructed cover—which was good, as there's been a good deal of such things happening recently.

Not two weeks after the empousa incident, Tyson had showed up on our doorstep out of the blue and spent three days with us, on break from his work in the underwater forges. All three, of course, already knew their uncle and had since they were babies, though Carly had never seen him clearly through the Mist before. She'd started slightly at the sight of the Cyclops, and then stared wide-eyed before recovering. She had, of course, known what to expect, but seeing a monster in person, even one as sweet as my half-brother, is not really something one can prepare fully for. Tyson, thankfully, noticed nothing and his visit passed without incident.

Two days later, I took all three kids to the beach a few miles outside the borders of Camp Half-Blood. Carly wanted to see if she could learn to manipulate water like her brothers, and seawater seemed the easiest choice for her. Annabeth hadn't liked the idea, insisting I not let her get her hopes up in case she wasn't didn't possess the talent, but Carly had been insistent and, eventually, she had grudgingly allowed it.

We spent over an hour standing just out of the water's reach, encouraging her to focus and learn to feel the sea. Logan and Nicky alternated between assisting with my lesson and playfully antagonizing each other with random jets of saltwater to the head until a battle broke out between them. While both had grown very skilled in manipulating water, neither had quite gotten the hang of willing himself dry yet, and I'd had a feeling my own intervention would be necessary to save the car's leather seats.

Eventually, Carly, slightly disappointed, gave up and contented herself with watching the boys' war with consideration, as if calculating each move they made. I was about to reign them in and deem it time to go when a familiar voice sounded from behind me, from where I knew no one had been seconds before.

We turned to find my dad standing in the surf beside us, grinning. He'd wanted to properly meet his granddaughter, now that she knew everything. The boys had both interacted with him a few years earlier while at camp. I'd only found out after the fact.

Carly had stared, wide-eyed, but had taken it all in stride. If she'd had to meet any god face-to-face, Poseidon was a fairly safe place to start. He'd always been cooler than most of the others, even if he wasn't winning any father of the year awards. She got over her surprise quickly and, after introductions, had asked him, "How come I don't have powers like Logan and Nicky?"

Poseidon only smiled. "Who ever said you don't? Not everyone, Nicholas included, learns to use his or her talent immediately. And even if you never have the ability your brothers do to control water, who ever said that means you aren't powerful? Look at your mom. Her talents lie in other places, but she is far from powerless." I'd smiled my agreement at that. Carly had looked slightly put out, but nodded, and while she'd been quiet as I'd dried the boys' clothes and loaded the three of them in the car, I thought she seemed slightly more at ease with the events of the afternoon than she had before. The subject hadn't been brought up again in the week since.

We walked into Camp Jupiter now, where Roman half-blood campers were involved in various training exercises and activities. Prior to the Giant War, Roman campers had largely remained at Camp Jupiter throughout the year, unlike Camp Half-Blood where many went home for the school year. In recent years though, more and more half-bloods, Hannah included, spent time at home during school months, so the barracks and the Field of Mars seemed less crowded than they usually were when I visited.

Overall, the Roman camp hadn't changed much since I'd first come here at sixteen, though Greek campers were obviously far better received than we'd initially been. And to the right of us as we approached the Pomerian Line and the entrance to New Rome, Temple Hill could be seen, it's temples and alters sparkling in the late spring sun. In keeping with his promise to Kymopoleia during the quest to Greece, Jason had ensured that she, along with all other minor gods and goddesses, was represented at both camps and respected along with the others. The Pontifex Maximus had also followed through with his promise of pantheon action figures. Even as we walked to the Roman town's border, I saw a young boy holding his mother's hand and gripping what looked like an Apollo figurine in the other. For extra credit, Jason had even sold the idea to a local mortal toy store, which had begun manufacturing and selling the action figures to the public just last year. He didn't do anything halfway, apparently, and they _were_ surprisingly popular.

Terminus Reticulus, the ever-present figurehead of New Rome's borders and also the Roman god of boundaries, greeted us at the entrance. "Weapons in the bin!" he ordered, eyeing all of us, "I don't care how popular you all think you are, the rules still apply to you. In the bin. All of them. Don't think I won't know if you _forget_ something. You too, boys," he said to Logan and Nicky, and then turned to Carly. "You seem clean, my dear," he said and then turned judging eyes on me again. "You let your little girl walk around out there with no weapon, Percy Jackson? How irresponsible. She could be attacked!"

"We're working on it," I informed the statue, and indeed, I had asked the Hephaestus cabin about a weapon for Carly to use, similar to the twin swords the boys carried. In the mean time, she didn't go anywhere by herself anyway and had not been training at camp long enough yet to know how to use a blade effectively.

Terminus hummed and then said, "Fine. You're all free to pass. Tuck your shirts in and, by Jupiter's beard, _brush your hair_!" This last comment seemed directed specifically at Nicky, who seemed to have inherited the worst of my unruly hair. Annabeth reached forward to smooth it down for him and shot the god an unappreciative glare. Nicky turned his own incredulous look on the statue before following his brother inside the borders. "He's fun as ever," I muttered.

Nico, walking beside me, snorted. "Always is."

We bumped into Aaron, Reyna's husband, on the way to the designated celebration hall. The party wasn't set to start for several hours yet, but Reyna, Aaron, and their son, Jacob all still lived in New Rome, though she had stepped down from her Praetor position shortly after Jacob was born, and had offered to help set everything up today.

The majority of the guests coming were from New Rome or the surrounding area. Frank and Hazel were far from strangers at Camp Half-Blood, but the majority of their close friends remained Roman, as they were. The Graces would be here, of course, though they'd conveniently already been in California, visiting Piper's father, who still did not, by some act of the gods, know about his daughter's half-blood status. They would be arriving later, along with the Valdez's, who were flying in from Texas for the occasion. The rest of the guest list remained predominantly Roman. The invitations had told everyone to arrive at two. The surprise would take place around three, when Frank and Hazel were set to arrive. It was just after ten now.

We had plenty of time. Hopefully.

* * *

I wasn't surprised to find that Reyna, unofficially running the show, had everything under control and coming together before we even arrived at the hall where the party was to take place. She and Nico had become good friends since their trek across the world during the war, bringing the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood, and together, they made a formidable pair.

Reyna was as Roman as they came. She organized everyone into groups and put us all to work setting up tables, decorating, picking up the goodies waiting at New Rome's bakery, and coordinating with the caterer, among other things. Unsurprisingly, everything was ready ahead of schedule and the last hour before the party started was spent catching up and waiting for guests to arrive. Leo, Calypso, and the girls were the first to walk in, having come from the airport. Reyna had assigned Will to pick them up and had lent him her car to do it. The Graces had arrived early as well, and with a little under thirty minutes until two, I stood beside Jason on one side of the room, watching the younger kids run around in a game of hide-and-seek. The older ones, like the adults, had broken into groups and sat chatting amongst themselves. Annabeth, across the room, stood talking with Calypso and Nico; Piper, Reyna, Will, Leo, and Aaron a few feet from them.

I took one look at the son of Jupiter and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "You look like you could use a drink."

Jason just sighed and shook his head. "It's been a long week."

"Everything okay with Piper's dad?"

He gave the slightest of pauses before replying, "Yeah. He's fine. His fiancée is just… interesting."

"I didn't know he was engaged."

Jason snorted. "Neither did we."

"Oh," I replied, glancing at Piper, who seemed stressed, even as she laughed at something Leo said.

"Yeah, Piper's not thrilled, to say the least. But Tristan seems happy." He shrugged, his eyes still on his wife across the room.

I studied him for a second. "Is, uh, everything else alright?" He seemed… off somehow.

He took a long breath and looked briefly at me before turning away again. "I don't know how you do it," he said quietly.

"Do what?"

"You and Annabeth. You just… You're, like, the definition of love. Like the amazing power couple we all secretly hope to be but don't quite manage."

I narrowed my eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Jason shook his head. "Nothing… Piper and I have just been fighting a lot lately." He paused, and then shook his head. "Never mind. You shouldn't need to worry about it."

I only raised an eyebrow. "You think Annabeth and I don't fight?"

He actually snorted now. "Oh, I know you fight. You just…" He hesitated, and then went on, "You just never seem to lose that spark, you know? Even after however many years it's been now. It's always obvious how much you love each other, no matter what."

I had not been expecting anything like this and I honestly wasn't sure what to say now. "Are you saying you don't love Piper like that?" I asked after a pause.

"I do," he said miserably, "But lately I've been wondering more than I probably should if the same is true of her."

I stared at him for a second, floundering. "It's been that bad?" I asked.

He sighed. "She seems… different all of a sudden. I don't know. She starts fights over nothing; yells at me for the smallest things. I don't know what changed. She just doesn't seem happy anymore, and it scares me."

I considered that for a long moment, unable to meet his eyes. "What can I do?" I asked at last.

He shrugged. "Nothing you can do, man. Thanks for listening though."

"'Course," I said. "If you need anything…" Jason nodded his understanding.

"Thank you. I just want to enjoy the party and not worry about it right now. For Frank and Hazel." He met my eyes at last, the smallest of smiles playing at the edges of his lips, "I might take you up on that drink though."

I smirked. "You know where to find me."

* * *

"Alright, everyone. If I could have your attention please!" Will called, quieting the crowded room. He held up his cell phone. "Nico's on his way over with Frank and Hazel now. They'll be walking in in about two minutes. So if everyone could please be quiet and move out of sight from the door, we're going to turn down the lights." He smirked. "When they come on again, you know what to do." There was some chuckling and exciting murmurs as the many guests that had arrived over the past half hour moved to do as Will asked. Once everyone was settled out of immediate sight, he did, in fact, turn off the lights and the waiting began. I stood beside Annabeth and couldn't help the anticipatory grin on my face. The only other surprise party I'd been to was the one my mom threw for Paul's fiftieth birthday, and that had been years ago. Personally, I wasn't sure how I'd feel if given one myself. Part of me worried I might accidentally hurt someone out of instinct. Hopefully that didn't happen today. Our friends would be unarmed but that didn't mean they were not still dangerous.

It wasn't long before we heard voices outside, growing louder as their owners grew nearer. "I promise we can go as soon as I grab it. It's in here." Nico's voice, playing along with the ruse.

The plan, he'd explained earlier, was to lead Frank and Hazel to the party under the guise of retrieving a jacket he'd accidentally left behind earlier in the day. As far as they knew, Nico, in California for the weekend, was treating his sister and brother-in-law to dinner in town that night, though obviously they would not be making it that far. Their kids, Emily and Sammy, were supposedly under the care of Will for a few hours. They, of course, were already here with everyone else and were beyond excited at the prospect of surprising their parents.

Hazel replied now, the question plain in her voice. "What were you doing in here earlier?"

"I had a meeting. The Senate House was being used and this was closer than walking all the way back to the _principia_." The lie rolled off Nico's tongue with ease and I didn't know whether to be impressed or concerned that he could so easily do so, even to the people he knew best.

They appeared in the doorway before either Zhang had a chance to reply, and Nico reached out and flipped the lights on. The resounding cry of "SURPRISE!" that resulted was instantaneous and Frank and Hazel both flew about a foot in the air, reaching for weapons they did not carry before they realized what was happening. Both relaxed and laughed along with their friends then, looking embarrassed. Emily and Sammy ran up to greet them. Hazel turned to her laughing brother and shoved him. Nico stumbled half a step and laughed harder. Frank glanced around, smiling and clearly fighting the color rising to his cheeks.

"You guys!" Hazel cried a moment later, noticing us; the Valdez's, and the Graces beside us—friends who had traveled a long way to attend today. She rushed forward to greet us. "What are you doing here?"

"We wanted to surprise you," Piper said with a smile.

"And clearly it worked," laughed Leo from beside me.

"You all didn't have to come all the way here for this," Hazel said as Frank joined her, grinning ear to ear.

"Yes, we did," grinned Annabeth, "Like we would miss it."

"Any reason to get together is a good one," Piper agreed.

"It's good to see you guys," Frank had to admit. He smiled wider as he added, "You're all just fair-game for the future now." Everyone laughed.

With so many people here for them, Frank and Hazel could not stay very long without seeing to the rest of their friends, and after a few minutes they did leave to greet the others. With the guests of honor present, the food tables were open and I wasn't the only one who moved now to get in line for it. Leo wound up beside me and I asked about the garage he and Calypso had opened up in Texas so many years ago now. The son of Hephaestus grinned. "It's good. We actually just hired another mechanic to help out. It was getting to be too much for one person, even with Calypso technically running most of it behind the scenes."

"That's never a bad thing."

He smiled wider. "No, it's not."

"How are the girls?"

"They're great. They're finishing third grade next month." He shook his head. " _That's_ hard to believe. But they're doing good. They haven't grown out of the _boys have cooties_ phase yet, thank gods, so life's easy. Though I'm told that day is coming."

I made a face, my eyes unconsciously finding Carly in the crowd. "Don't remind me."

Leo laughed. "How're your kids?

"They're good," I told him.

"Is Nick still having trouble in school? I remember Calypso mentioning he was a while back."

I nodded. "Yeah, he had a hard time for a while but he's actually been doing really well this year."

"What changed?"

"Well, a girl his age moved in next door last year and they became good friends. I think she had a lot to do with it. They compete with each other like you wouldn't believe but it helps both of them, I think."

"Is that the same girl who showed up at the peace celebration last summer? The Roman?"

"That's her."

Leo stared at me, fighting a smile. "You know, what you just described sounds a lot like two demigods I know."

I breathed a laugh. "Yeah, I know."

Leo laughed himself and grabbed a paper plate as we reached the table. I followed suit and moved along its length, loading my own plate with food.

We sat at a table with the Graces and the Arellano-Messers. Leo waited for the rest of his family before they moved to the table beside ours, close enough to still talk with us all. Conversation was light for a while as everyone ate and laughed. It was Annabeth, of course, who noticed anything was wrong.

"Are you okay, Logan?" she asked, eyeing the teenager. He was the only legacy seated with us. The rest of the kids were off at another table, apparently enjoying the chance to see each other. Now that I thought about it, it was odd that Logan wasn't with them. Not to mention the fact, I noticed now, that he'd hardly touched his food.

Logan nodded from beside her. "Why aren't you eating?" she pressed quietly. "Do you feel okay?" He shrugged a half-hearted shoulder. Looking concerned, she lifted a hand to his forehead and then met my eyes. "Does he feel warm to you?" she asked.

I reached forward and laid the back of my own hand on his head. Logan allowed it. He did feel warm. Not overly so, but probably a low-grade fever. I nodded. "Have you felt sick all day?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "No. Just the last hour or so."

Annabeth sighed. "Why didn't you say anything?"

He shrugged miserably. "I didn't want to leave."

"Well, honey, if you're sick, you shouldn't stay. Especially if you have a fever."

"But, Mom—" he started to protest, but Annabeth shut him down with a look.

He looked down but didn't protest, either because he knew he'd lost or because he really didn't feel well at all—probably both. Annabeth glanced at me. "Do you want to go with him to my dad's or should I?" We'd planned to spend the rest of the weekend with the Chases before heading home again. I hoped Logan wouldn't be sick the whole time.

"I'll do it," I told her, moving to stand, "Are you okay to bring Nick and Carly back?"

She nodded. "We'll grab a ride with someone."

"We can drop them off on our way," Piper said, having watched our exchange. Beside her, Jason nodded agreement.

"Thanks, guys," I told them, stepping to Logan, "Come on, bud." He stood and allowed himself to be guided from the table.

Nico intercepted us in between saying goodbye to Frank and Hazel and heading for the door. "I heard you're heading to Annabeth's dad's," he said, "Want a lift there?"

"Are you offering?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Sure. I'll be gone five minutes, tops."

I smiled. "I'm not about to say no. Thanks."

"No problem," he grinned before catching Will's eyes across the room. The son of Apollo nodded and Nico turned back to us. "Ready?"

Annabeth had called ahead for us and Theresa Chase was waiting with a thermometer and medicine when we got there. She confirmed Logan did, in fact, have a low fever, and, after giving him the medication, sent him up to bed with the promise of chicken soup for dinner. It seemed all grandmothers were good at fussing over their grandkids. And Logan, though he'd been disappointed at leaving the party early, seemed glad at the prospect of sleep and medicine.

I offered to help with the soup she'd promised and Theresa pulled a few carrots from the refrigerator and handed me a knife and cutting board, pointing to an open spot of counter. I set to work on the task, peeling and chopping them, and after a minute of quiet work, looked over at my mother-in-law. "Thank you," I told her. I wasn't talking about her acceptance of my help.

Theresa smiled down at the chicken she sliced and met my eyes. It was a distinctly motherly expression I saw there when she answered. "Anytime."

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 **Thanks for reading! And I promise it will not be another month before you hear from me again - for real this time. Feel free to review and let me know your thoughts. And don't forget, ideas are always appreciated!  
**


	29. In It For The Long Run

**Hey guys! I feel like I apologize for the longer-than-expected wait with every chapter I post lately, so I'll spare you from having to read it again. Between Christmas (I hope you all had a great one!) and my latest literary obsession (Sarah J. Maas is PHENOMENAL!), I've been a bit busy, but enough of that.**

 **So I really enjoy writing little, unimportant scenes in Percy and Annabeth's everyday life now and then, and I won't pretend this is really anything other than that. There's some plot building, but mostly its just some Percabeth cuteness and some filler details. Still, I think it's sweet and I hope you enjoy!**

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We were back in New York two days later, after spending the rest of the weekend with the Chases. Logan had spent a good deal of our visit in bed, but his fever broke a few hours before we'd left—a fact he was understandably happy about. Hannah's family had looked after Ollie for us and the overgrown puppy was excitedly waiting for us at the door when we arrived home, wagging tail and kisses at the ready.

"Take your suitcases up to your rooms," Annabeth instructed the kids over the din, "And make sure all dirty clothes make it into hampers, please." The three moved to obey and she turned to me, continuing on the conversation we'd started on the drive home, the kids in the backseat paying us no attention. "I don't know. They've been in California since I was a kid. The boys are still over there, and their kids. I guess I just assumed they'd be there for the rest of their lives. Or at least until they retired."

Over dinner the night before, Frederick and Theresa had given us some surprising news. We'd been discussing Carly's first trip to camp over spring break—she was surprised to learn her grandparents knew a good deal about the godly aspects of our lives; the kids didn't know much about Annabeth's tenuous relationship with her father growing up, but it was no secret that her side of the family tended to be less open-minded about it all than my own. The nine-year old had finished with her recount and a silence had fallen with the end of the conversation. The Chases looked at each other, some silent agreement passing between them, before they'd looked back to everyone again. Frederick had cleared his throat almost nervously, and then said, "We have a bit of an announcement." All eyes fell to the two of them and he went on, "Theresa and I are going to be moving to New York early next year."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise and I glanced at Annabeth and saw the feeling mirrored on her own face as she asked, "What?"

Frederick went on, "Columbia University has presented me with an offer I can't refuse. We've talked about it a good deal," he said, glancing beside him at Theresa, who nodded in agreement, as he spoke, "and we agree it's a logical next step. I plan to accept a research position there next fall."

Annabeth only blinked at her father like she didn't see the logic at all. "What about your job here? The teaching. And your current research?"

"Well, that's just it," her father explained, "I can continue my research there, with more resources at my disposal than I could ever hope to have here, and I'll be given a guest lecturer position once or twice a semester so I can focus more completely on my work." He sighed, smirking slightly at the flabbergasted expression still clear on his daughter's face, "I've already received my tenure here and frankly there's little more I can do from this side of the country. You know I've never been able to stay in one place for long. We've only stayed in California for as many years as we have so the boys would have some stability, and I'd say they're more than old enough to handle themselves now." He smirked again a bit, as if to laugh at his own joke. Matthew and Bobby were both in their early thirties by now and though both remained in the state with their families, they no longer lived in San Francisco themselves.

Nicky and Carly had, by this point, grown bored of the conversation and struck up a quiet one of their own at the end of the table. Logan, seated on my other side, having joined us to eat before likely heading back to bed, listened on with some interest to the ongoing discussion between Annabeth and her father.

"Well, yeah," Annabeth said now, "But New York? Are you _sure_? Don't you want some place… I don't know, quieter?"

"No one says we have to live in Manhattan just because Frederick works there," Theresa put in reasonably, "Especially considering he'll be home most of the time anyway." Something about the way she said it made me wonder if she maybe didn't have other reasons for wanting the change. I remembered Annabeth mentioning a while ago how the hours her father put into teaching regularly had grown increasingly taxing as he'd aged. Maybe switching to a guest-lecturer position would be a good thing. I knew if I'd thought as much, Annabeth surely had too. I briefly met her eyes.

"Not to mention," Frederick added, "We'd be closer to you than we've been in a long while. I'll see my grandkids more."

"What about the boys?"

Another exchanged glance with Theresa, and then a smirk. "I'd say they've seen more than enough of us these past few years. A bit of travel every once in a while won't hurt them. And we can always visit too."

"Matthew mentioned he and Liz are possibly moving out of state after the wedding anyway," Theresa put in helpfully. Right, we'd be back in town at the end of the year for that. "And it's time for a change."

Annabeth had only shrugged, "Okay," and the conversation had soon shifted to other things once more. It had only come up again on the ride home from Half-Blood Hill, where Nico, having met up with us that morning in San Francisco, had Shadow Travelled us to our waiting car from days earlier. She still seemed more surprised than anything, even with the hours it had been since we'd found out.

"It doesn't really seem like your dad has any intention of retiring any time soon," I replied now.

Annabeth sighed and then smiled. "I know. He probably wouldn't know what to do with himself. And he'd probably drive Theresa crazy."

I chuckled and then stepped closer, setting my own bag on the floor beside us. "Would it really be so bad to have them move here?" I asked gently, watching her.

She sighed again. "No, I guess it wouldn't." She met my eyes. "I'm just used to having them far away." She smirked. "They're not your parents." Growing serious, she went on, "I'm a little worried having them near us will force them back into regular immersion in our world, with monsters and everything. I don't…" Another sigh. "Hearing about things is different from seeing them for yourself and I don't want our kids to deal with anything I had to from them."

I stepped forward now to wrap her in a hug. "They won't," I said in her ear, "We won't let them."

She let me hold her for a few seconds before she pulled back. She shook her head. "Am I being ridiculous?"

"No," I assured her, "You're being a good mom." Annabeth may have forgiven her father and his wife for the horrible treatment she'd received as a child, but she hadn't forgotten it. And I didn't expect her to. I liked to think her parents would not fall back into the old way of things for many reasons, not the least of which being they regretted what they did, but I did not blame her for worrying. Some scars ran deep and forgiveness did not always mean complete trust. Not when it came to the kids. Especially not then.

She made a face at me but smiled, taking a step away. She picked up her own bag from the floor and held it out. "Can you bring this upstairs for me? I need to figure out something to make for lunch before the boys start rioting." I grinned and obliged her.

When I returned a few minutes later after some rudimentary unpacking, Annabeth was indeed in the kitchen, placing frozen chicken strips on a pan to go in the preheated oven. I hadn't even fully crossed to her before she said, without even turning to me, "Can you see if the potato salad is still in there?" She gestured to the refrigerator. "We need to use that before it goes bad."

I gave a nod she didn't see and crossed the room to look. "Yeah, it's here," I answered, surveying the contents atop the shelves, "Enough for us to finish today. Do you want it now?"

"No," she answered, opening the oven and sliding the tray in, "Not yet. Thank you."

"Mhmm," I replied, crossing to her now. She put the unused chicken back in the freezer and then turned away to wait for the rest to cook. The kids were still busy upstairs. I leaned against the counter, watching her, my thoughts drifting. I didn't realize I'd spaced out until her voice broke through. "Are you okay?"

I looked up at her. "Yeah, I was just thinking." She moved toward the counter to sort through the mail the Lawrences had left waiting there for us. "About what Jason said the other night," I added, answering her unspoken question and joining her, taking the bills she handed to me. Understanding flashed in her eyes as she looked at me and nodded. I'd mentioned the conversation briefly while in California.

"I hope they'll be okay," she said, "Piper didn't say anything to me but it was a pretty quiet car ride between them."

I shook my head. "I can't believe Jason thinks we're this perfect couple. Do you think everyone sees us like that?"

"Would it be so bad if they did?" she asked with a wry smirk before sighing. "I'd like to think they'll figure out how to work through it, whatever it is. They've been through a lot together. It's hard to imagine anything could ever be bad enough to make them consider anything else. Not after everything." I hoped she was right. A small part of my brain wondered if the divorce rate was better among half-bloods than it was among mortals. I hoped so.

"Conner and Sarah…"

"Sarah's a mortal and she and Conner didn't go through anything like we all did.Not that what happened with them isn't sad or couldn't have been prevented, but I think there's something to be said about the effect fighting monsters and risking your life together can have on a relationship."

I smirked. "So you're saying I have nothing to worry about."

She smiled briefly. "I'm saying when you survive war and death like that as kids and are still standing at the end, regular mortal relationship problems seem like less of a deal." I supposed she had a point there. Even Clarisse had made marriage work for years now. "I'm not saying we're above struggling, but…" she shrugged. "They'll be fine. Hopefully."

I only hummed in response. "And no," she added, a small smile on her face again as she looked back at the mail and finished flipping through it, "You have nothing to worry about."

"I'll keep that in mind the next time you threaten divorce when I don't kill a spider fast enough."

She breathed a laugh and smacked me with the back of her hand, turning away. "That's not funny."

I grinned. "It's a little funny."

She rolled her eyes but the corners of her mouth were still slightly uplifted. "Go away," she said lightly, swatting at me, "Go make sure the kids' homework is all done for tomorrow." A lighthearted dismissal.

"Give me a kiss first."

She met my eyes, smirking two feet from me with a hand laid casually atop the counter. Her smile grew as she closed that distance and wrapped her arms around my neck. The kiss was playful, light, but on the quick side on account of the voice that sounded from the doorway as if on cue. "Oh, gross." It was halfhearted at best.

We pulled away to find Nicholas in the kitchen entrance. Annabeth, the smile still playing around the edges of her mouth, said, "What do you need, Nicky?" This was far from the first time we'd been interrupted.

"I was wondering when lunch was gonna be done," he replied.

"It's cooking," she answered, glancing over at the stove timer, "Five minutes. Feel free to put plates and forks on the table and speed the process along."

Nicky shrugged but did as she requested. "Is your homework done?" I asked with a playful look he didn't see sent her way.

"Mostly."

"You need to finish it after we eat," I told him.

He glanced at me from the silverware drawer and nodded. "'Kay."

I looked back to find Annabeth looking at me expectantly. She raised an eyebrow. "Alright," I smiled, raising my hands in surrender, "I'm going, I'm going." I moved to leave.

"Send them down for lunch while you're at it," she called. I could hear the grin in her voice.

I sent a gesture of confirmation behind me and continued from the room. I rounded the bottom of the stairs and chuckled to myself. Lest anyone accuse me of disobeying orders. I knew my lot in life.

And I was happy for it.

* * *

 **Too sappy?**

 **Thanks for reading! I am going to try hard to get at least one more chapter posted before the start of the new semester in just over a week. Ideally two more, but we'll see. Thank you all for your support and general awesomeness. I love and appreciate you all so much!**


	30. All the Stories Are True

**Hello! Here's the next update.**

 **I got a request a few chapters ago for Percy/Annabeth to tell the kids about Tartarus. This started off as that, but kind of took on a mind of its own as I went. I'm happy with it though. Enjoy!**

* * *

"What was the scariest thing you ever did on a quest?"

The question came out of nowhere. I looked up from my task of arranging various tools in their places on the wall atop the workbench—the actual workspace rarely got used, but the collection of screwdrivers, a hammer, pliers, a drill, a few wrenches, and various other tools that had accumulated over the years saw surprisingly regular use with the knack my kids had for breaking things. I found Nicky, the source of the question, in the middle of sorting through their considerable amount of sporting equipment, waiting. Across from him, Logan had looked up from sorting through a bin of old weapons, determining what was worth keeping and what wasn't, and now looked between us, apparently wanting to know my answer as well.

Annabeth had tasked us with cleaning out the garage today. We'd been at it for about an hour now and we were making progress, slow as it seemed. Ollie had followed us outside and lay in the driveway, enjoying the late spring sun on his fur and watching us all work.

I looked between my waiting sons now and took a deep breath, thinking about the question. I didn't need to consider it long. "You know about the quest your mom had to go on in Rome to find the Athena Parthenos?" I asked. The boys shared a look and then nodded as one. I went on, "No one was allowed to help her and everyone, Mom included, thought she would die trying to find it."

"But she went anyway," Nicky said. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, she did," I confirmed, "I went with her as far as I could, and then I had to watch her ride away with two gods on a Vespa to start her death quest. I couldn't do anything about it." I paused, and then told them, "That was the scariest thing I ever had to do on a quest."

There was a short silence, during which I returned a screwdriver to its home on the wall. Nicky's voice was oddly hesitant when he spoke again. "More scary than where you went after that?" I turned in time to see the warning look Logan gave his brother across the garage—it was not unlike the ones Annabeth had given me so many times growing up and still occasionally did.

I turned to face them now. "No," I said simply, "Tartarus was the scariest place I've ever been, but it was a different kind of—"

"Wait, so it's _true_?" Logan broke in, wide-eyed.

"What's true?" I asked.

"That you and Mom, you went to— _there_."

I blinked, surprised myself. "Yes." Admittedly, we'd never spoken outright to the kids—any of them—about our unexpected detour in Rome, nor had we told many people outside of the Seven where we'd been or what had happened there. But there were more than enough rumors that had circulated over the years. Word had gotten out and I'd always just assumed everyone, the boys included, knew.

Apparently not. Both were wide-eyed now as they stared at me. "I thought it was just a story," Logan breathed, "like the one about Zeus asking you and Mom to become gods after the first war."

I didn't bother informing him that that story was true—at least partially—as well. I shook my head. "We were there. Uncle Nico was too, before we were. He was alone, though, and got captured before he could make it all the way through. We managed to rescue him from some of Gaea's giants in Rome."

"But you and Mom… you found the Doors of Death?" Logan pressed, "You made it through? That really happened?"

"It really happened."

"Why didn't you ever tell us?" Nicky asked now.

"We didn't tell anybody," I explained simply, lifting a box off the end of the workbench. It was labeled _Christmas Ornaments: FRAGILE._ It should have been in the attic with the rest of the decorations. I wasn't sure what it was doing out here. I set it on the floor by the door. "A lot of bad stuff happened down there. Worse than bad. And it took us a long time to get over it, to learn how to live with the memories and the stuff that we had to do…" I turned around and met their eyes again, "We did what we had to, but we had to live with those decisions afterward and it wasn't easy."

"And leaving Mom for her quest was still scarier than all that?" Nicky asked now, sounding slightly dubious.

I nodded. "I fell into that pit with her. On purpose. She wanted me to let her go and pull myself back up—we were hanging from a ledge and I physically could have, but I didn't."

"Why?" Logan breathed, not asking so much as simply wanting to understand. He was far more logical than I ever was, even now, and I knew it was warring with him. Nicky, though, looked like he understood a little, and I understood that under the right circumstances—or the wrong ones, really, he'd probably do something similar. I had a feeling his fatal flaw wasn't all that different from my own and that terrified me.

"Because I loved her," I answered now, "And also because she was my best friend and we'd been through too much. I couldn't leave her again. And we had a better chance of surviving together."

"Did you ever regret it?"

"No."

Another minute of silence passed and I assumed the conversation was over. I turned back around and finished putting tools away before moving to the corner where our bikes were all haphazardly stood. I began wheeling them outside. Logan, finished with his task, moved to help me. He winced slightly at the lone spider that scuttled out from the now empty corner—Annabeth's genes at work and exactly the reason she was not out helping us. I put my son out of his misery and killed the thing. I was grabbing a broom to sweep the dirt and dried leaves from the corner when he finally spoke up again. "How do you make a decision like that?"

I glanced over. "A decision like what?"

"Like you did with Mom, and I guess like she did a lot with you too, but… like, sacrificing your life for someone else. How do you just _do_ that? Or at least be willing to. Without a second thought."

I thought about his words, sweeping the debris into a neat pile. "Well," I told him, "A lot of the time, in those situations, there isn't time for second thoughts or even first ones. It's usually more instinct than anything. You just do it." I shrugged. "I guess I don't really have an answer beyond that." I looked at him. "Why?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I'm just not sure if I'd be able to do that. When it came down to it. I've never really thought about it."

"I think you could," I said. His eyes met mine. "I hope you never have to, but I think you could, for the right person. And you'll know." Logan considered this, and then shrugged thoughtfully before going back to work, sliding the box of weapons onto a shelf beside a couple of tents. Those that had not passed his inspection would be brought to Camp Half-Blood for the Hephaestus campers to melt down and reuse.

"Hey, Ollie, look what I found!" Nicky piped up, holding up the worn tennis ball that had at one point been used for fetch before it went missing. Ollie's ears had stuck up at his name and he trotted over now, tail wagging. Nicky tossed the ball in an arc toward him and he jumped up and grabbed it out of the air. Nicky smiled and pet the dog's head as he pranced over and deposited the ball once more at his feet. He obliged him in throwing it again, further this time. Ollie shot after it. Then Nicky looked to me. "I'm done over here, Dad."

"Looks good," I replied, righting the rakes and snow shovels that had fallen over at some point and lay sprawled messily behind the door. "Help Logan put the bikes back." I held up a skateboard that had rolled behind the water heater. "Logan, do you still want this?" He'd asked for it a few years ago and had gotten to be pretty good with it. I didn't know how much he really used it anymore though. Judging from where I'd found it, I was willing to bet it had been a while.

He looked over and nodded. "Yeah, sure."

I didn't argue or try to convince him otherwise—that was Annabeth's job. Holding it out to him, I directed, "Put it over there."

After another few minutes of work, we were nearly finished when Nicky asked, "So, if the stories about…. _you know where_ are true, is the one about the River Styx true too?"

"What about it?" I asked, sweeping the rest of the floor we'd cleared.

"How you went in it and got the Blessing of Achilles."

I smirked. "Yeah, that's true."

"No way," he said.

"I might have known that," Logan put in thoughtfully, looking at me, "I think you told me once."

"Why not me?" Nicky demanded.

"Hey, you all found out the truth at different times and ages," I defended, "There was a lot to tell. It's hard to remember who knows what sometimes." I shrugged. "It was a long time ago and I lost the blessing when I went to Camp Jupiter after Hera swapped me and Uncle Jason." Before either could ask, I added, "I couldn't keep a Greek blessing at the Roman camp."

"That's stupid," Nicky decided. I chuckled.

"So Aunt Thalia was really a tree once?" Logan asked.

I laughed again. "She sure was. You should ask her about that sometime. Make sure I'm around."

He grinned. "Are all the stories true then?"

"Probably," I answered, "It was only me Zeus offered immortality to, not your Mom, but that happened too."

"And you said _no_?" Nicky cut in.

"I said no," I confirmed.

"For Mom," Logan guessed.

"For a lot of reasons."

He hesitated for a second and then asked, "What about the weekend getaway you went on with Aphrodite?"

"The what?" I asked, nearly cutting him off.

"Some kind of weekend trip you went on after the Giant War. To, like, Paris or something."

I narrowed my eyes, cleaning forgotten. "After the Titan war, Hermes interrupted your mom and me on a date so we could find his missing staff. He sent us to Paris as a reward. Are you talking about that?" I wasn't aware that was public knowledge, but I wouldn't have been surprised.

Logan shook his head. "No, it was definitely after the Giant War and with Aphrodite, not Mom."

"Really," I intoned, making a mental note to schedule a meeting with a certain goddess of love to tell her off, "No, that definitely never happened."

"Thank gods," he said.

"Are there a lot of rumors like that?" I asked, wary now.

"Not really," he replied, "Not like that, anyway. Most of them are about you and Mom going on crazy dangerous quests and saving the world. I guess those are all true. I kind of figured that one wasn't though."

I just shook my head, trying to shake that newfound information from it, and eventually resumed sweeping. "Is there any part of the Underworld you haven't been to?" Nicky asked, coming over with a dustpan he'd procured from somewhere for me to sweep the pile of dirt and debris I'd collected in the center of the floor into.

"I haven't been to Elysium," I told him, "Or the Isles of the Blest. I've seen them from a distance, but I've never been there."

"Do you think either of us will ever go on a quest?" he asked after a nod and a thoughtful pause.

"I don't know," I told him, sweeping the last of the pile into the dustpan for him to dump in the trash, "Maybe. I hope you don't have to though."

"Because you think we couldn't do it?" he asked easily.

"What? No, of course not. Both of you could do it, no problem. But quests are usually hard and dangerous, and sometimes they don't end well, even if you do survive. And then you have to live with those consequences. If I had a choice, I'd keep you all as far away from that stuff as I could. Your mom too. But since we can't, we just make sure you're the best heroes you can be. And you are."

"Do you think we'll have to go on one someday?" Logan asked curiously, "Will the gods make us?"

"I don't know," I told him honestly, "Given that they've never had any issues asking us over and over and that they know who you are, it's possible. We'll just have to see."

"Would they expect us to be as good as you?"

"I still have no idea what the gods expect," I told them, "And even if you did everything perfectly, some of them would still find reasons to complain. But you're both heroes regardless of what you do or don't do. You've learned to fight and you've killed monsters when you had to. That's all either of us and Chiron expect from you. Any other expectations you have should be your own." I finished, pretty proud of how I'd handled that. The boys were quiet. I looked around, assessing the now clean garage. "Alright," I said after a few seconds, "I think we're done."

"Yes!" Nicky said, "Can I go see if Hannah's home?"

"Are they back yet?" I asked. The Lawrences had left town a few days ago for a death in the family. We'd taken care of their mail as they had ours two weeks ago for our trip to California.

He nodded. "They got home last night. Mom talked to Ms. Sue."

"You can go see," I told him, "But don't invite yourself over. If she wants to come here, she can, but if she was close to her aunt—"

"She wasn't."

"Okay, well still ask."

"I will. Thanks, Dad!" he said, already running down the driveway, Ollie keeping pace beside him.

Logan opened the door, shaking his head, and held it while I grabbed the box of Christmas ornaments I'd left on the floor earlier. I almost bumped into Annabeth on the other side. She held the phone in her hand and surprise shone in her gray eyes. Her mouth turned up in a smile as she said, "You aren't going to believe this."

* * *

 **Since it was discussed in this chapter, I thought I'd touch on the subject of Nico really quick. Throughout my stories, not just this one, I've described Percy and Annabeth as the only people to make it through Tartarus alive, and I always get comments about how Nico survived too. When I say they made it through, I mean all the way to the Doors of Death and out again. Nico survived Tartarus, yes, but he got captured before he could make it all the way through. I explain Nico a bit better in this chapter than I have in the past, but for the record, that is what I mean when I say what I do. Nothing against Nico, of course! It's just semantics.  
**

 **Thanks for reading! Next update coming soon!**


	31. Growing Up

**Hey guys!**

 **So, I didn't get both updates finished before school started, but I've been waiting to write this chapter for a while now. I'm super excited to have it done. Hopefully it puts as big a smile on your face to read it as it did on mine while writing it!**

 **This update is sort of the result of multiple ideas put together and honestly, guys, SO MANY PEOPLE guessed what I've been hinting at these past few chapters. Seriously, I was so close to changing my entire plan just to throw you all a curve ball. I didn't do that - you're welcome. However, here's hoping my future plans for this story wind up being a bit more surprising than this one was.**

* * *

"Are you serious?" I asked, walking with Annabeth down the hall from the garage, Logan listening on from behind us.

"I'm completely serious," she answered, smiling. The surprise that was surely written all over my face still had not fully left her own eyes. "She said she's just over fourteen weeks."

"Piper _Grace_? Our Piper?"

She laughed, continuing on to the dining room, where the book I'd seen her reading earlier lay open and waiting. "We don't know another Piper, Seaweed Brain." Carly sat at the opposite end of the table, her homework spread out before her. She watched us with interest, clearly having overheard everything.

"Oh my gods," I muttered, bracing my hands atop the chair beside hers. I could think of little else to say.

"Imagine how Jason feels," Annabeth said lightly. Honestly, I couldn't imagine it. Another baby after so long? It was the last thing I would have guessed, even if it did explain a lot.

I shook my head. "What did you tell her?"

"Well, I said I was happy for them, obviously, and congratulated her. They only found out themselves on Thursday. She still doesn't seem fully over her own shock."

"Well, _that's_ not surprising."

"No, it's not," she agreed.

"Wait," Logan put in slowly, lingering in the doorway, "But Izzie's fourteen and Caleb's only, like, two years younger or something, right? That's a _giant_ age difference."

Annabeth nodded right as the sound of the front door drifted through the house, followed by Nicky's and Hannah's voices and the clicking of Ollie's nails on the floor as he led the way in, moving to find the rest of us. "Mom! Dad!" Nicky's voice called, louder now, "Hannah's here!"

"Hi, Hannah!" Annabeth called in reply, brushing an absent hand down Ollie's neck as he cantered past. Hannah's answered greeting sounded a second later and she turned back to Logan. "Surprises happen sometimes," she said simply.

"What's going on?" Nicky asked now, rounding the corner with his best friend a step behind. He looked between the three of us in curiosity.

"Aunt Piper is pregnant," Annabeth informed him.

He blinked. "Wait, really?" he asked.

She nodded. "She called while you were out cleaning."

Beside him, Hannah smiled. Between the time she spent with us and the time Jason spent at Camp Jupiter, she was well aware who he and Piper were. "Aw, that's so cool," she said happily.

Nicky, meanwhile, looked like he wasn't quite sure what to think of this development. I couldn't blame him—I didn't remember being particularly fond of babies at his age either. "Wow," he said awkwardly.

It was Carly who saved him—and possibly damned the rest of us—by speaking up now. "Can one happen for us?" she asked vaguely, her voice hesitant and oddly hopeful.

"Can what happen?" I asked her.

"A surprise," she answered, her eyes landing on her mother as she continued. "Can you have another baby?"

My eyebrows shot up at that and even from my peripheral, I could see how wide Logan's eyes grew at the suggestion. Annabeth exhaled in a surprised laugh. "Definitely not," she told her gently.

"Why?" Carly asked, deflating.

"Because we don't need any more babies," Annabeth answered simply, "We have three already. And a dog." Logan, appearing relieved, took the opportunity to slip out the doorway and vanished back down the hall. Nicky and Hannah remained, though the latter looked like she was trying to decide between discomfort and curiosity. Nicky watched the back and forth like a tennis match.

"But I want a baby sister," Carly protested, disappointed.

"Sorry."

"But could you if you wanted to?" She pressed, looking for all the world like she was trying to complete a puzzle she did not have all the pieces to.

"Yes," Annabeth informed her patiently, "But it doesn't matter because we're not."

The nine-year old considered this for far too short a time before she asked, "How?" Behind me, Nicky abruptly straightened as if he'd been shocked. I, too, paid a bit closer attention. Carly, either oblivious to or unconcerned with the shift, elaborated. "How do you get a baby in you?"

"NO!" Nicky all but yelled, blushing furiously and pushing frantically off the wall he'd been leaning against. "No. No, no, no. Oh my gods, we're leaving!" He was already moving, dragging a wide-eyed Hannah from the room. Carly only watched them go, immense confusion written across her face.

I glanced at Annabeth, who bit her lip now as if fighting a smile. Clearly, she took far less issue with Carly's question than everyone else, myself included. Nicky's outburst had proved enough a distraction that I had not immediately noticed the deep dread that had pooled violently in my gut in response to the innocent inquiry. I certainly did now.

Carly's confusion was quickly turning to distress as I turned to face her again, steeling myself. "What did I say wrong?" she asked, looking between us.

"Nothing, honey," Annabeth answered sympathetically.

"I only asked a question."

"It's okay."

"Do… you know the answer?"

Annabeth met my eyes, the smile playing around the edges of her lips once more. I silently told her, in no uncertain terms, that she could absolutely take the lead on this. Her eyes, bright with amusement and the slightest trepidation, informed _me_ in no uncertain terms that I was expected to endure this conversation with her, just as she'd endured it with the boys—the discussions with them, while still awkward beyond all measure, had still seemed less uncomfortable than this. I'd have thought this sort of thing would grow easier with time, not harder. This was not at all how I'd planned to spend my afternoon.

"Yes, I do," Annabeth amusedly answered Carly now, holding my gaze for another second longer before turning her eyes to our daughter once more. I took a fortifying breath and, releasing it slowly, turned to look at Carly as well, just as Annabeth began, "Remember what I told you about the difference between boys and girls?"

Olympus help me.

* * *

I lay across our bed that night with my hands behind my head, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating the very real possibility that I'd never be able to comfortably look my daughter in the eyes again. It had taken Annabeth over half an hour to thoroughly explain everything to Carly. During this time, I'd sat uncomfortably straight in my chair and struggled not to stare down at the tabletop for too long at a time.

And I swear, for all the ways our daughter was like me with her fairly regular impulsiveness and her near-constant desire to be moving and entertained, she was one-hundred percent her mother than it came to learning things. Logan tended to be like this too, always excited about new information and a challenge, but while he and Nicky had both been too uncomfortable and disgusted during their own Talks, Carly had had follow-up questions, which had definitely been worse. She hadn't just wanted to know how things worked, but also the what and why behind it all. I hadn't been prepared for that, not from my nine-year old daughter; nor had I had any clue whatsoever as to how to reasonably answer those questions. Annabeth had taken it all in stride. I'd spent almost as much time thanking the gods for my wife's existence during that conversation as I had cursing them for putting us in that position in the first place.

I was suddenly beyond grateful to only have one daughter.

The rest of the night had passed pretty normally once we finished. Hannah stayed through dinner—she and Nicky were apparently as happy as I was to pretend the earlier conversation in the dining room had never happened. She went home shortly after and Annabeth put on a movie for us all. By the time the kids were in bed—Carly and Nicky already asleep and Logan propped up on a pillow with a book; I'd nearly forgotten the whole thing. Until I changed into pajamas and sprawled on my back, the bedside lamp still on and waiting while Annabeth brushed her teeth in the bathroom. My brain chose that moment to relive some of the more mortifying parts of our chat.

I sighed out my nose and closed my eyes, stifling a groan. The sound of running water stopped in the bathroom and Annabeth padded silently out, slipping into bed beside me. She ran a hand through my hair and I didn't need to see her to know she was smiling when she said, "It wasn't _that_ bad, Seaweed Brain."

I wasn't the least bit surprised she knew what I was thinking. I opened my eyes and found her beautiful gray ones on mine as she laid beside me with her head propped on her other hand. "Babe, I think I'd rather fight in the Titan War all over again than have that conversation one more time."

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "You're such a drama queen."

"I'm serious," I insisted, "How do you explain the motivation behind sex to a nine-year old?"

"You don't," she answered simply, "She'll understand one day." Admittedly, this wasn't all that different from what she'd told Carly earlier.

I really did groan now. "That day had better be a _long_ way off," I said, "Like, twenty years, minimum."

"You're just upset your little girl is growing up," she countered wryly.

"Yeah, I am," I said plainly, "Did _you_ give her permission to do that?" She smiled again. I sighed, growing serious. "She just found out about the gods, and now this."

"I know," she said softly, shifting now to pull the covers over both of us before settling down next to me. She laid her head on my shoulder as I reached behind me and turned off the light. There was comfortable silence for a few seconds before I broke it.

"I told the boys about _you know where_ today." I was careful to avoid saying the actual name—I'd used it earlier in as it was. It didn't matter. Annabeth still shuddered slightly against me. I'd been expecting it and tightened my grip on her a bit.

"You did?"

I nodded against her. "They asked."

"What did you tell them?"

"Not much," I admitted. "They heard about it as a rumor; they didn't think it actually happened."

"I wish it didn't," she said dryly. I hummed in agreement. There was a short pause before she spoke again, a smirk plain in her tone. "Sounds like you've had quite the day for difficult conversations."

"You can say that again," I muttered. She gave a surprised laugh then. "What?" I asked, looking at her in the dimness.

She shook her head against me. "I was just thinking if today didn't make Hannah part of our family, I don't know what will."

I laughed now myself. "Nicky's reaction was pretty priceless."

She snickered. "Gods, I've never seen him so mortified!"

I won't lie. We spent a solid minute laughing at his expense.

"I blame Piper and Jason," I decided after we quieted, "None of that would have happened today without them."

Annabeth snorted and then sobered. "I can't believe she's pregnant again."

"I'm glad she is. Jason had me worried."

"I know. Hopefully the hormones settle down a bit though. He's in for a long seven more months otherwise."

"Still better than the alternative," I replied.

"True." She shook her head. "Could you _imagine_ , Percy? Another baby _now_?"

"It would be crazy," I allowed and then grinned. "I'm game if you are."

Annabeth snorted. "I thought you didn't want to have to have the Talk anymore."

"I suppose I could survive another go if I had to," I reasoned playfully.

"Shut up," she said, slapping my shoulder lightly. Our room wasn't quite dark enough to completely hide her smile though.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hopefully you laughed a bit, or at least managed a smile or two!  
**

 **I'm hoping to have the next update finished within a week or so. It all depends on school, really. Thanks for your patience.**

 **(And for those of you who read Unconditional, I promise I have not abandoned it! I've been busy with other stories, but I plan to focus my attention on that next, so stay tuned!)**


	32. A New Adventure

**Hey guys, here's another update. I'm sorry for the wait. School has been absolutely insane - sometimes I think I'm crazy for trying to get into medical school one day... But I managed to finish this up for you tonight and I wanted to get it posted. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about it but it involves a subject a lot of you have been requesting recently and something I plan to build more on later, so hopefully you enjoy it. I won't make any promises as to when I'll have another chapter ready but believe me when I tell you I will do my best, I promise!**

* * *

"Okay, now slowly stop. Carefully—there you go. That was good," I said from the passenger seat of my car, "Now do it again."

Cautiously, Logan hit the gas and sped up before slowing to a stop once more. His smoothest attempt yet. "That was really good," I complimented. He smiled.

Honestly, the fact that I was teaching my firstborn son how to drive was still a bit surreal, even after multiple lessons. At fifteen, Logan had been looking forward to learning for easily a year now—he'd already been through the manual from the DMV twice—and over the past few weeks, I'd brought him to the deserted farm roads leading to camp a few times and showed him some of the basics. He was a quick study. He had a few more months still before he could get his learner's permit, but I saw no reason why he couldn't learn early. If he could be trusted to handle deadly weapons on a regular basis, I was pretty sure he could manage an automatic transmission.

"Can I try parking now?" I'd made him learn controlled stopping before he attempted to park anything, and I was satisfied with his progress.

"Sure," I answered, "Check for cars before you pull onto the road up here." He followed the packed dirt carefully, taking it slow, toward the beach and the Long Island Sound ahead. There was a sandy parking lot up here—our destination now. I rarely saw anyone down this far. We were only a few miles from Camp Half-Blood's borders and frankly, in the middle of nowhere. I thought it was pretty perfect.

Plus, I figured, if he could handle driving on these roads, he should have no problem with the flat, even surfaces of maintained areas.

Logan practiced pulling in and out of several different spots, but he struggled to line up properly between the lines. "How am I supposed to know if I'm in the spot or not?" he asked, growing frustrated after his fourth failed attempt. In all fairness, this was only his third lesson. He was doing pretty great.

"Eventually you just sort of get a feel for it and don't have to think so much," I told him not for the first time, "For now, when you pull in, try to line yourself up the same way you would with the lines on the road. That way you can be more centered in the spot."

"Chariots are easier to maneuver than this," he grumbled, backing up and moving in for yet another attempt.

I snorted. "You know the Pegasi do most of the work for you. That was better though. You're getting there."

"This seems like it shouldn't be this hard."

"Rome wasn't built in a day, Logan," I said calmly. It was true, though New Rome could easily be reconstructed in that time. "You're doing fine." He didn't say anything, only shifted into reverse again and backed up. "Hey, that time was really good," I said when he pulled in yet again. "Try that again."

Several tries later, Logan's parking was acceptable and fairly consistent. "Thank gods," he groaned quietly when I informed him of such. I smirked. His reaction to mastering something too slowly reminded me so much of his mother it was honestly scary.

"What do you think?" I asked now, "Try something else or call it quits for the day?"

He shrugged, but then looked at me and asked, "Can I just drive on the road for a while until we reach the crowded areas?"

"If you feel comfortable," I told him reasonably. I trusted him to make that assessment. He nodded that he did. I shrugged. "Okay."

"Take it slow," I told him as he pulled out onto the uneven road once more. "There shouldn't be anyone around for at least two or three miles but check your mirrors still. You never know."

"I know, Dad," he replied long-sufferingly.

I smirked. I didn't consider myself particularly overprotective. I mean, I gifted my kids with deadly weapons and let them walk around in public where they could literally be attacked by vicious monsters at any moment, but I don't think it's possible to teach your child how to drive and not feel just a _little_ anxious about the prospect of not having any control if something goes wrong. But I trusted my son to be careful and I'd been in far more dangerous situations. It was just fun to annoy him.

Logan was pretty quiet as he drove, his concentration focused straight ahead. I appreciated that. But he did speak up at one point after looking both ways three times and making a right turn onto another empty road. "So Grandpa Paul taught you how to drive and then let you use his car before you got your permit?"

"Not on any main roads," I clarified, "But yeah."

He considered this and then asked, "Can I do that?"

I breathed a laugh. "We'll see. Let's get you fully capable first, then we'll talk."

He smiled, his eyes forward. "Okay."

He drove for another three minutes or so before another car appeared from the opposite direction and he got a little spooked. Rather than continue past, he simply pulled over to the shoulder and shifted into park. "I'm done," he announced.

"You can drive past this car, Logan. He'll stay on his side of the road." Probably. "You just have to stay on yours."

He shook his head. "I'm worried I'll drift over the line or something. Maybe next time."

"Alright," I said easily. I appreciated that he knew his limits. I unbuckled my seatbelt and pushed open the door. He did the same on the driver's side.

When I was behind the wheel once more, I pulled back onto the road and headed for home, driving considerably faster than he'd been—but again, I appreciated his conscientiousness. Car repairs were expensive.

I noticed his eyes on me as I navigated us back toward the main roads, observing how I moved. It wasn't something I normally paid much attention to; to what exactly I did behind the wheel. It had been second nature for so long.

It took another five minutes or so to reach a road with an actual traffic light and another five before I saw more than one other car at a time. It was then Logan finally spoke up.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" he inquired, sounding suddenly anxious. I wondered if he'd been steeling himself for this, whatever it was, more than watching how I handled the car before.

His tone had me interested, if not slightly nervous myself. "Sure. What's up?"

"So, um…" he said, taking a deep breath. "If I… um…" He trailed off again.

I glanced sideways at him in between watching the road. "What is it, Logan?"

He seemed to suddenly find the pattern of his jeans very interesting. "It's just… If I wanted to…to ask a girl out… how would I… do that?" He peaked out from the corner of his eye then as if to gauge my reaction.

"Well," I said, stopping at a red light and looking at him, "I guess that depends. Got your eye on anyone?"

"Kinda, yeah," he said awkwardly, "She's in my biology class… Her name's Jasmine."

I fought a smile. "Is she cute?"

"Yeah, she's… really cute," he answered awkwardly, his cheeks turning a brilliant red. "It's just, she's really smart and kinda quiet and I haven't really talked to her much until this year. But we did a project together and she's really cool and we sorta became friends and… yeah."

I was smiling outright now. "Well, I'll be honest with you, bud," I said, "I never really dated anyone before your mom—she'll tell you otherwise but Rachel and I were always just friends." Excluding the part where she'd kissed me on the beach, but that wasn't my fault. "And we were kind of different because we survived a war together and she kissed me before we ever actually went out so I never had to actually ask her like that." We'd had the DTR conversation, but even that had been somewhat of a no brainer. I'd said something stupid. Annabeth had laughed at me and then kissed me, and that had been that. I maybe should have planned better for this conversation. I should have known it would come sometime.

"So you can't help me?" Logan asked, sounding disappointed and slightly anxious.

"Well, I can tell you your heart will probably race and you'll probably stumble over your words, but if you really like her, you've got to just do it." I should know. I'd endured a lot of grief at fifteen because I was a wuss who couldn't voice my feelings to save my life.

He considered this. "What do I say?"

"Well," I said, "I guess you tell her what you just told me. That you think she's smart and pretty and you like her."

"But _how_?"

"Ask her to do something with you," I reasoned. "Start small—maybe see a movie or something. Don't get upset if she says no and don't assume she's automatically your girlfriend if she says yes." Annabeth had taught me _that_ particular lesson the hard way. "Be respectful and don't do anything you wouldn't normally."

"Okay," he answered, nodding, "But… she's mortal. Where can I take her that's… safe? I mean, should I even bother?" Honestly that was a good point.

"Well," I started, "there's never a guarantee that your date won't be ruined by a monster. That's happened to me a lot. But that isn't going to change so you have to just learn to work around it and pray the Mist works to your advantage if something does go wrong."

There was a pause before he spoke again, wary. "Can you teach me how to manipulate the Mist then?"

I laughed. "How about you just try something safe first? Away from electronics."

"Like what?"

Heck if I knew. This was one of the few things I hadn't had to worry about as a kid. "Mini golf?" I suggested. Our family had had pretty good luck with that.

He thought about it. "That might work," he admitted, and then added, "What if something does happen, though? I mean, I can't _tell_ her."

"There are exceptions," I told him, "If something happens and there's no way around it. But try and make it through at least one date first before you have to, okay?"

He smiled. "Okay."

* * *

"What did you tell him?" Annabeth asked, lying beside me in bed that night.

"I told him to go for it. What was I supposed to say?"

"Well she's fully mortal and they're young. That could get complicated really quick."

"Logan's mature. I trust him."

"It's not that I don't trust him. It's just hard when feelings are involved like that… I mean, look what we went through at fifteen."

"I don't think their situation is as complicated as that was," I answered, "And for the record, I don't think I actually did anything _wrong_ back then—"

She smacked my chest, effectively silencing me. "I just don't want him to get in over his head," she worried. "I mean I know we've got to let him try. I'm not saying we shouldn't. It's just… she's mortal."

"I know. But he's only a legacy. He doesn't have nearly as many run-ins with monsters as we did. He might be okay. Plus, its not like we can really tell him he can't date a girl right now when you kissed me in a volcano before we even _turned_ fifteen."

"It's not my fault if you were too slow to make a move and too quick to put yourself in ridiculously dangerous situations," she replied innocently.

"I wasn't the only one," I protested lightly, "I seem to remember you putting yourself between me and a knife a year later."

"Would you have preferred I let Ethan Nakamura kill you?" she countered sweetly.

"Regardless," I said, pointedly ignoring her comment, "I think if Logan likes this girl, we should at least let him try. He can handle himself if he needs to."

"I know," she sighed. "I can't believe we're at this point already."

* * *

It took him a while to build up the nerve, I guess. Logan didn't bring Jasmine up again, to me or anyone else that I knew of, the rest of the weekend or in the days following. I wondered if he'd changed his mind. But we didn't ask him about it. He was young. He'd have plenty of time to figure things out.

There was just under a month of school left when I picked him up one afternoon and was surprised by the huge smile on his face as he got in the passenger seat. "Hey," I said with interest, eyeing him before I was forced to move along in the line of traffic. "What's up with you?"

"I did it," he replied, "I asked Jasmine out."

"You did?" I responded, surprised. I'd honestly almost forgotten about our conversation about her.

"Yeah," he grinned, "She said yes!"

"That's great! Where are you taking her?"

"Well," he said, "I was kind of hoping to maybe do something this weekend. Do you know if we have plans?"

"Nothing I'm aware of but you know I'm not in charge of anything."

He smiled in response. "I'll ask Mom," he decided.

"Good idea."

He spent the next few minutes explaining how it happened. He'd caught her on the way out of biology class and had stumbled through explaining that he really liked her and wanted to go out with her sometime. "I honestly don't even remember what I said," he stated plainly. I laughed at that. She'd accepted though and all was well in the world for them.

And honestly, for a normal fifteen year old, having the girl you like agree to go on a date with you was probably about as great as things could get. I couldn't personally relate to that level of normalcy but I was thrilled Logan could. And I was proud of him. He'd sucked it up and faced a situation I know he'd been nervous about, which was something I'd definitely not been able to say at his age. And so far it seemed to have worked out in his favor.

Not that any relationship he had at fifteen would likely last. I mean, you never knew. Annabeth and I had but I wasn't sure our situation really counted. But even if it didn't, I supposed it was probably good for him to explore these things. It was what teenagers were supposed to do, and if he was determined, who was I to stop him? That being said, some ground rules would need to be established. I didn't want to get into the specifics of all that now, and not without Annabeth's input, but…

"I'm happy for you, bud," I told him cautiously as I waited for a break in the oncoming traffic to turn into our neighborhood, "But I want you to remember something. You're fifteen, okay? Don't rush into anything. Take it slow. Get to know her."

"Yeah, I know," he answered, "It's just a date. She's not even my girlfriend or anything yet. I haven't even held her hand."

"That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying you're doing anything wrong. But I was fifteen once and I don't know if you know this but relationships can be confusing and you can get really hurt if you aren't careful. You have your mom's genes. Try to use them."

He turned questioning eyes on me. "What, exactly, are you telling me?"

"I'm telling you to take it slow," I summarized simply, pulling into the driveway. "And to please not, under any circumstances, do anything that results in your mother and I having to have an uncomfortable conversation with you about hormones and smart choices."

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 **And there you have it. I'm sorry if the writing quality seemed below my usual standard. I feel like it was for this chapter but I couldn't figure out how to fix it or what specifically I didn't like. So maybe it's just me.  
**

 **Anyway I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts and I will see you again soon!**


	33. Simple Moments

**Hello!**

 **I am sorry again for the wait. I really struggled with writers block and lack of inspiration for this update. I'm still not really sure about it but there's some important stuff in here that leads into the next few chapters which will (I promise) be more interesting!**

 **In the meantime, please enjoy with fun little filler chapter.**

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"Do you have any plans for the summer, Jasmine?" Annabeth asked from her spot beside me in the passenger seat, glancing back at the dark-haired teenager seated beside Logan. The two had spent the majority of the car ride so far with their hands awkwardly on the edges of their laps, pinkies just shy of touching, and, I won't lie, I'd been sneaking glances back at them every few minutes to see if and when either of them would gather the nerve to grab the other's hand. It was entertaining, if nothing else.

At the sound of her name, Jasmine glanced up and pulled her hand back slightly. "Yeah," she answered, "I'm actually going to Georgia with my mom. She has family outside Atlanta and my brother is down there for school, so we usually spend about a month there with them."

"Oh, cool," Annabeth answered, carrying on the conversation, "Where does your brother go?"

"Georgia Tech," she responded, "He's a sophomore there."

"Nice," she said.

Jasmine's joining us today was kind of a last minute thing. It was Saturday, the second to last before the end of the school year, and one for which we hadn't had any particularly special plans. We had errands to run, stopping to look at a house about forty minutes from our own at the behest of Annabeth's parents, and then picking up some groceries on the way back. The kids had requested getting ice cream and we'd agreed to do so afterward, so all three had come. Shortly before we left, Logan had walked into the room, monster-proof cell phone in hand, and asked if we'd let Jasmine tag along too. Frankly, I didn't see the thrill of running errands with us, but the two had gotten together several times now over the past few weeks and were looking at an upcoming summer-long separation, so I didn't see the harm in allowing it.

We'd officially met Jasmine about two weeks ago, when she'd come over after school one day to study with Logan for their upcoming biology exam. Judging from my own experience 'studying' with Annabeth in high school, I hadn't been sure how much progress they'd actually make, but they sat together in the dining room for two hours diligently reviewing nomenclature and mitosis. I'd been caught somewhere between surprise and veneration that they'd managed so well before reminding myself that their relationship, thus far, was far less serious than mine and Annabeth's, out of necessity, had been even then. She'd stayed for dinner that night and we had the opportunity to get to know her a bit.

As Logan had mentioned on more than one occasion, Jasmine was a pretty girl. She had pale green eyes, olive skin, and thick dark hair that she seemed fond of wearing in a plait down her back. She was shy but respectful, and over dinner we learned that she lived with her mom a few miles from us and had a brother a few years older than her. According to Logan, she was a good singer, but she grew nervous when he mentioned this, as if worried we'd ask her to perform, and apparently not comfortable enough yet to press her, he'd let it drop quickly.

I didn't know much about her beyond that or how, exactly, their relationship worked but if I learned anything from her interactions with Logan that night, it was that she was clearly just as enamored with him as he was with her. And they were cute, even if Nicky looked unsure of what to make of them at times.

I pulled off the highway now, following the instructions of the GPS to the house we were driving to. Annabeth's step mother had called a few days earlier and asked if we'd be willing to take a look at the place and see if it was worth seriously considering before they made the trip all the way to New York. They were planning on moving at the end of the year in order to be settled in time for Frederick to begin his new job in January and they needed to find a place to live soon and get the ball rolling. They were planning a trip in a few weeks, but needed our help in the meantime narrowing their options. Annabeth and I had looked at two others, closer to the city, during our lunch breaks the previous two weeks, but this one was too far out of the way to fit into our busy workweek schedule.

Logan and Jasmine had, by now, struck up their own quiet conversation, which went largely ignored by Nicky and Carly behind them. The former watched his sister disinterestedly as she doodled on a page of one of Annabeth's notepads, absently running a finger back and forth over the silver bracelet encircling his wrist. At nearly thirteen, I knew he'd only agreed to come with us because he was getting ice cream out of it later.

The GPS directed us to take the next right. Annabeth watched the road as I did so and then pointed. "I think it's right here." I didn't disagree as we moved further into the neighborhood and came upon a reasonably sized, gray house with a For Sale sign in the yard.

"Grandma and Grandpa are moving here?" Carly asked, peering up at it.

"We don't know yet," Annabeth answered as I turned off the engine, "We're just here to look at it so we can tell them if its one they should see when they come here."

"Are we all going in?" Nicky asked.

"I'd like you to but you don't have to if you don't want to," Annabeth answered, "We shouldn't to be too long though." She glanced at Logan and Jasmine, "You two can't stay by yourselves though. Sorry." The former blushed, apparently scandalized, and moved quickly to open his door. I hid my smirk.

Nicky moved to get out as well and waited for Carly in front of him to step down before he got out himself.

Tara, the realtor handling the house, was waiting for us inside. She showed us around the place and pointed out what were, I guess, supposed to be the important features. And if having four kids wander around the place on their own bothered her at all, she didn't say anything, which was probably wise.

The house was really modern and very _white_ on the inside. It was smaller than the one the Chases currently had in California, but then, for just two people, it was still plenty big enough. Personally, I thought the place could do with a little color, but what did I know?

As predicted, we didn't stay long. After maybe twenty minutes, the six of us walked back toward the waiting car while Tara locked everything up behind us. "Is that it?" Carly asked me.

"Yup," I said, "We just had to come see what it looked like so we could let your grandma know."

"We drove really far just for that," she said disapprovingly.

I laughed. "Sorry, Peanut."

When everyone was in the car and once more busy with their own conversations, I looked at Annabeth before backing out of the driveway. She wore an odd expression on her face, one that I could not quite decipher with just a quick glance. "What are you thinking?" I murmured, shifting gears and pulling back up the road.

She glanced at me and then smiled a bit. "That I really hate that house."

I smiled. "You do?"

"You do too," she countered quietly. She wasn't wrong.

I smiled wider. "So?"

She shook her head but was still smiling when she replied, "I hate it, but I feel like it's exactly the sort of thing Theresa would love."

I chuckled quietly. "You would know, I guess."

She shook her head again as we came to a stop at a red light. "We're just very different people."

"Thank gods for that," I murmured. She smiled again.

I glanced behind us in the rear-view mirror just before turning onto the highway ramp and smirked. I didn't see who initiated it but Jasmine and Logan sat together, talking quietly and now hesitantly holding hands between them.

* * *

"Alright, we're only going in for a few things," Annabeth said, scanning through the shopping list she'd scribbled down before walking out the door hours earlier, "We should only be a few minutes if you guys want to wait in the car." She looked behind her to the kids in confirmation. None of them was particularly fond of grocery shopping. I didn't blame them. "It's up to you."

Logan turned to look at Nicky for his answer, apparently resigned to the fact that he could not be left alone with Jasmine and, as such, his actions depended on his siblings'. I wondered if he wasn't a bit grateful for this rule. I thought I would have been at his age. Girls were always intimidating, but, from the little experience I'd had, I remembered it being particularly bad then.

Nicky only shrugged. Carly, beside him, had been dozing for the past few minutes and, currently far closer to sleep than consciousness, was apparently content to use her brother as a pillow. He seemed inclined to allow it for the moment. Logan turned back to us and shrugged himself. "I guess we'll stay," he said easily.

"We'll leave the AC on for you," I told them, leaving the keys in the ignition and unbuckling my seat belt.

"Find a radio station you can all agree on, please," Annabeth added, doing the same and reaching for the door handle, "We'll be back soon. Keep the doors locked." She added this last part mostly for Jasmine's benefit, I knew, as a locked door would not exactly thwart any real threat posed to our kids.

"We'll be fine, Mom," Logan said knowingly.

"Good," she said and got out.

Once inside, she pulled out her list and scanned it again while I grabbed a shopping cart and joined her. "We need bread, milk, cereal, eggs, garbage bags, and flour," she informed me, "And we should probably get some fruit while we're here too."

"Divide and conquer?" I suggested.

She nodded. "Do you want to grab bread, flour, and garbage bags and meet me by produce?"

"Sure," I said, turning to go.

"Make sure you get the wheat bread without the seeds. The kids won't eat it otherwise."

"I've got it," I assured her quickly and turned away.

I wasn't gone very long. My assigned items were all fairly near each other. I found everything without incident and moved toward the produce section, items in hand. I cut through an aisle full of cleaning supplies and stopped short at the end upon catching sight of Annabeth at a nearby apple display. My eyebrows rose. She wasn't alone.

Some guy stood next to her, apparently trying to start conversation. He was blonde, rather unnecessarily burly, and seemed quite confident in himself. Even from probably thirty feet away, it seemed to exude from him annoyingly. He smiled at Annabeth and continued on. She only watched him, not yielding an inch, but leaned away from him slightly as if worried he might try to touch her. Honestly, I almost wished he would try. When she finally managed to get a word in edgewise with the guy, it was pretty clear what her response was, as only after she spoke did the dude seem to notice the ring she wore on her left hand. He left with his tail between his legs not long after. It was satisfying to watch.

"I can't leave you for five minutes," I smirked, joining her at last and depositing my gathered items into the shopping cart.

She gave me a look as she went back to sorting through the arranged produce. "I can't _believe_ the nerve of that guy. I told him I wasn't interested twice and he still wouldn't take no for an answer until I told him I was married. Happily."

I grinned. "Is that all you said?"

Her answering smile told me no, it definitely was not. My own grew. "He couldn't handle me," she said simply.

"And I can?"

She turned away, still smiling, and tied off the end of the bag she'd filled with apples. "You're better qualified than most."

"I _think_ that's a compliment," I replied playfully, taking the apples she handed me and putting them in the cart while she crossed to grab bananas across the way. Her smile was answer enough.

I watched her pick out the ones she wanted from my spot in front of the apples and I didn't blame that guy one bit for trying—though he should have accepted her refusal the first time. Almost seventeen years and three kids later, my wife was still gorgeous. It was simply a fact.

Along with the bananas, she grabbed a container of strawberries on her way back to me and found my gaze on her as she drew near. She rolled her eyes and added the fruit to the cart. "Let's go, Seaweed Brain," she said, smiling, "The kids are waiting."

* * *

"$26.79," the cashier at the ice cream shop said to us after inputting the last of our order into the computer. The kids were all seated at a table well behind us already, having received their ice cream already. Nicky was just sitting down beside Carly and, I noticed, leaving quite a bit of space between them and where Logan and Jasmine sat together with their ice cream. I smirked.

Annabeth paid the bill while another employee appeared with a cup of ice cream in hand and said, "Mint chocolate chip?"

"That's me," Annabeth answered, sticking her credit card and the receipt into her wallet. I took her order from the girl. I handed it to her just as mine came out. I thanked her as I took the cookies and cream she handed me, and then turned with Annabeth to sit down, following as she detoured to grab napkins first. "What do you think of them?" she asked quietly, nodding toward Logan and Jasmine while plucking a handful from the dispenser.

I shrugged. "I think she's nice and Logan's happy, even if he has no idea what he's doing."

She snorted. "I think it's mostly because she's mortal. We're all being careful. It works out that she's going out of town for the summer. At least camp won't be an issue then." I nodded. "After that, they'll either figure it out or they'll crash and burn."

"I think we did our fair share of both at their age," I added.

She grinned. "Oh, we definitely did."

We'd reached the table by now and sat down across from our younger two kids. I was struck by the thought that this was probably one of the last outings we'd make as a family before summer began and all three went off to camp for it. This year would be our first summer without any of them. The idea was slightly jarring.

Don't get me wrong, the idea of being alone with Annabeth for an extended period of time was definitely appealing, but I knew just from past years with only Carly how quiet things could seem without even two of them. Without all three, I didn't know what we'd do. The kids were growing up fast and we needed to treasure every minute we had with them.

And maybe get ourselves a hobby for the times we didn't.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I will post the next chapter as soon as I can. Have a great day!**


	34. A Blast From the Past

**Hey guys! I am seriously so sorry for the wait. I honestly had no idea it had been so long - things have been crazy. But I'm on spring break this coming week and I'm hoping to have some time to get some serious writing done. I won't make any promises because I've been seriously awful lately, but I promise I will try!**

 **I tried to give you guys some fluff in this chapter since we haven't had too much of it lately. I'm not sure how well that particular goal worked out but it was fun to write all the same. Enjoy!**

* * *

It was a surreal thing pulling into the driveway after dropping the kids—all three of them—off at camp for the summer. It was strange to think it would be just Annabeth and me for the next two months. The idea hadn't quite sunk in.

It was the first Saturday of the kids' summer vacation and we'd been up early to get everyone and everything ready for them to go. Annabeth and I had always gone together to drop the boys at Half-Blood Hill and she'd had every intention of coming along today until the early, urgent call had come in from the firm about the mistake someone had made with the design that was due for a client today and which she now had to fix. She'd been livid, to say the least, but there'd been no way around it. I'd brought the kids alone.

I shifted into park and got out now. The morning was slightly cool for late June but the sun was out and it was not at all uncomfortable. Walking to the front door, the idea of a kid-free summer with Annabeth crossed my mind again. It was an enticing concept, I had to admit, and I was excited. Though I had no doubt the novelty would fade some once missing them really set in, as it always did, and the quiet of the house grew loud.

Pushing that thought aside, I unlocked the door and walked inside. Ollie, ever the enthusiastic greeter, waited for me, tail wagging. I smiled and scratched behind his ears. "Hey, boy," I told him and called, "Annabeth?"

"In here," she said in reply, her voice sounding from the office. I moved toward it, Ollie at my heels. The door was open—a good sign.

I peered in from the hallway. "How's it going?"

She closed an open file before her and looked up. "I just e-mailed the new plans over," she answered dully, "Someone needs to do something about that intern before he makes a mistake we don't catch and it comes back to bite us."

I pushed off from the doorframe now and walked into the room, stopping behind her and setting my hands on her stiff shoulders. She relaxed under my touch and leaned back as I massaged them. "How did the kids do this morning?" she asked.

"They were fine," I told her easily, "I could hardly get a goodbye from the boys before they took off." Nothing new, really.

"And Carly?" I knew she'd been worried about missing out on today because of her especially.

"She did pretty well," I said, "Got a little clingy when I was getting ready to leave but Leo and Calypso showed up with the twins and she was fine once she saw them."

"So she wasn't upset?"

"She was okay," I assured her.

"That's good." She sighed. "I wish I could have gone."

"I know." I kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry."

She just shook her head and then turned slightly to look up at me. "You saw Leo and Calypso? How are they doing?"

"Good. They said business has been picking up again. And they got a cat apparently."

She gave a surprised laugh. "Really? How'd that happen?"

I grinned. "The girls wanted one and Leo's a pushover." She laughed.

"Were the Graces there?"

"The kids were," I answered. "I think Nico Shadow travelled them over with Em and Sammy."

Annabeth nodded. "I need to call Piper sometime."

"I saw Grover and Juniper though. And Jade. I told them we need to have them over for dinner one night."

"Gods, yes we do," she agreed. "It's been forever."

I smiled. "I think Juniper said she'd IM."

"Good."

I hummed agreement and brushed a loose strand of hair from her shoulder, still slightly damp from being thrown up straight out of the shower. "So is everything fixed for that client now?" I asked, "Are you free?"

She smirked. "Yeah."

I grinned. "Want to get lunch?"

"Where?"

"I don't know. Somewhere nice."

Her smile grew and turned playful. "You mean I get to go out with you in the middle of the day and not have to worry about being back at work in an hour _or_ have kids tagging along?"

"I know it's quite a concept," I joked.

Still smiling, she stood up. "How about you feed Ollie and find some place for us to go and I'll go change into some real clothes."

I looked over her ensemble of sweat pants and a T-shirt that might have once been mine and smirked. "Why? If anyone can pull _that_ look off, it's you."

She snorted. "Go feed the dog, Seaweed Brain."

* * *

No lunch date would be complete without a trip to the store for shampoo and toilet paper to finish it off. "Just think," Annabeth said wistfully, smirking slightly as she maneuvered the shopping cart out of the health and beauty aisle, "You won't have to pretend to like broccoli for the kids' sake for two whole months."

"Who says I don't like broccoli?" I countered.

She just looked at me. "Are you telling me that you suddenly _do_?"

"No, I'm telling you that I don't think I've ever come out and actually said I don't."

"You didn't have to; I can read you like a book."

I fought a smile. "Is that why you never made it until the kids came along?"

She grinned. "I needed them to not inherit bad eating habits."

I made a face. "Gee, thanks." She laughed, heading for the checkout now.

"It's going to be weird," she said after a pause, "Having such a quiet house all summer."

"Like when we first got married all over again," I added.

She shook her head, getting in line behind an elderly man buying an impressively large amount of tuna fish. "I'm not even sure I know what that's like anymore."

"I remember a few aspects that I wouldn't mind repeating," I told her with a grin, earning myself a smack in the arm while she rolled her eyes at me.

"Percy!" she scolded, drawing the cashier's attention, but I could see the smile she tried to hide.

I gave her my best innocent expression as I loaded our purchases onto the conveyor belt. "What? I was talking about game night with Jason and Piper," I murmured, "What were _you_ thinking of?" She laughed rolled her eyes at me again.

The man in front of us paid and left and we moved up to the register. "Hi, how are you?" the cashier, a broad redhead, greeted, her eyes moving between us and lingering on me.

"We're fine, how are you?" Annabeth asked in turn from beside me, her brow rising slightly as she watched the woman. The cashier did not answer; I doubted she'd even heard her. I glanced between my wife and the woman who, for some reason, seemed oddly familiar, and was about to say something when Annabeth beat me to it. "Can he help you?" she asked.

The woman blinked and seemed to remember she was supposed to be working. She shook her head slightly and reached for the bottle of shampoo waiting on the belt beside her. "No, I'm sorry, I…" She looked between us again. "Did you…" her eyes fell on me again, "Your name is Percy?"

I blinked in surprise before remembering Annabeth had just said that. "Uh, yeah," I said dumbly. "Why?"

"Percy… Jackson?" she asked slowly. My eyebrows rose slightly now and I thoroughly studied the woman. She was probably around my age, with red hair and a somewhat squished-looking nose that might have been cute on a smaller figure. I supposed she wasn't horrible looking but she was far from my type. She still seemed strangely familiar but I'd gotten very good over the years at seeing around tricks of the Mist and she was clearly mortal. A mortal who obviously knew me somehow.

"Yes…" I answered slowly, looking at her nametag now, I added, "Do I know you?" I had to stare at the tag for a second before I could make out the name written there. I managed to decipher it in the same moment she began to speak and my stomach lurched a bit.

"I'm Nancy," the cashier said, "Nancy Bobofit from Yancy Academy." I saw Annabeth straighten from the corner of my eye. Clearly she recognized that name too. Nancy, apparently oblivious, went on, "Wow, I can't believe it's you. What are the odds?" Apparently not poor enough.

"Yeah," I said awkwardly, trying for a smile that hopefully didn't make me look constipated.

"Does she belong to you?" she asked, looking at Annabeth who, I could tell, was trying very hard not to raise an eyebrow at her once more.

"Yeah," I answered, "This is my wife, Annabeth." I refrained from mentioning that she belonged wholly to herself and simply gave me the right to occasional visitation.

Nancy smiled at her. "It's nice to meet you," she said.

"Likewise," Annabeth replied somewhat awkwardly. Nancy looked back at me.

"So you're not in the city anymore."

"Um, no. We live up the road."

"Oh, that's great," She replied, "My fiancé and I moved about fifteen minutes west last year." I nodded. She looked like she'd say more but a family had lined up behind us and seemed to be growing irritated with the wait. Reluctantly, my childhood bully eyed them and then returned to scanning our waiting items. "It's gonna be $34.72," she said. I pulled out my wallet and paid while Annabeth took the bags from her. "It was good seeing you again," Nancy said when we were ready to go, "You guys have a good one."

"You too," I said and gave her a small smile before turning with Annabeth for the exit.

It was a quiet walk to the car, a stunned silence sort of quiet. I was waiting on Annabeth to dig the keys from her purse when a voice sounded from behind us, calling my name. Withholding a sigh of resignation, I turned to find Nancy rushing toward us. "Hey, glad I could catch you," she said. I only looked at her, waiting. She met my eyes and continued. "I just want to apologize to you," she said, "I was absolutely awful to you in school, and I was awful to your friend… Gerald?"

"Grover," I corrected.

"That's it. Anyway, you didn't deserve the way I treated you and I want you to know you were completely justified in pushing me into the fountain that day. I wish I could say I learned my lesson then but I was a horrible person for a long time, and, I don't know, I just never really forgot you. And I want you to know I'm really sorry."

I blinked. "Wow. Well thanks, Nancy."

She nodded uncomfortably. "No hard feelings?"

I smirked. "No. It was a long time ago."

She nodded again and managed a small smile. "Alright." She glanced behind her. "I really have to get back but it was really great bumping into you. Maybe I'll see you around."

"Yeah, maybe," I allowed.

"Bye," she said with a smile and turned away. I watched her go in silence, Annabeth beside me.

"Are you okay?" she asked after a second.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said and looked at her. "I'm just… I don't know, shocked I guess."

"She made your life really miserable, didn't she?"

I shrugged, taking the keys from her and unlocking the car myself. "A lot of people did back then but I think it's safe to say I've had worse."

"Doesn't mean it didn't bother you at the time," Annabeth said reasonably, coming up beside me and placing our purchases in the trunk.

"Sure it did," I said easily, "There was a time when I definitely hated her. But I think later on I just pitied her." I had. The day I realized how much bigger my role in the world was, I'd let go of everything I'd ever held against any of the jerks I dealt with in school. Because at the end of the day, they were all just helpless mortals whose lives, along with those of the rest of the word, fell on me and a handful of other kids to save. And at that point, they were just a bunch of miserable people who took out their own problems on others, and it was sad, and I was nothing like that, and I had bigger fish to fry. It had been quite the epiphany and I'd been better for it.

She nodded, pulling the now empty shopping cart away. "Well, she seems like a halfway decent person now at least."

"Yeah, she does," I agreed.

"Not that I'd want to have her over for dinner or anything."

"Oh, _gods_ no."

She chuckled. "Just making sure."

We were maybe a minute into the car ride home when Annabeth, smirking, said, "So you pushed a bully into a fountain in middle school. How have I gone this long without knowing that?"

I fought against my own smile. "I didn't push her into a fountain. The fountain pulled her in and she deserved it."

She laughed. "Oh, I see."

* * *

We ate dinner that night, just the two of us, together in the living room in front of a movie neither one of us was really watching because we were without kids and because we could. We'd written a letter to the three of them after coming back which would be mailed out to camp first thing Monday morning and had settled in for a quiet night. I'd been twirling a strand of Annabeth's hair around my finger with one hand and feeding Ollie scraps from my plate with the other when she laughed suddenly. To the dog's dismay, I turned away from him and looked at her, eyebrows narrowed in question. "What's so funny?" I asked.

She shook her head, still smiling. "Nothing. I was just thinking of Nancy's face earlier when she realized who you were." Her smile grew wider as she continued; "She was probably trying to reconcile you as a grown, handsome adult with the scrawny twelve-year old she knew you as." She laughed a bit toward the end of her sentence. "I was just thinking her thoughts probably would have been pretty funny."

"Hey, listen," I told her in mock seriousness, "I looked perfectly fine as a twelve-year old, thank you very much."

She laughed again, "Percy, you were one of the tiniest, weakest-looking twelve year olds I've ever seen. Look at Nicky, he manages well but he looks _just_ like you did."

"So what you're saying is puberty did me a few favors."

"Well," she said enticingly, shifting now to face me and wrap her arms around my neck. "Lets just say you definitely grew into the whole 'son of a Greek god' thing pretty well."

I chuckled. "Oh really?"

"Mhmm," she hummed.

"I guess that's good news for Nicky then."

Annabeth exhaled something between a laugh and a sigh half an inch from my lips. "Don't ruin it, Seaweed Brain," she said.

Her lips connected with mine before I could laugh and the rest is history.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**


	35. Passing the Torch

**Hello!**

 **So I know I've fallen off the face of the earth lately and I am so sorry. I have my reasons, I promise, but just know that I am finished with school for the next few months and will hopefully have some time on my hands again. I swear I will be better about updating!**

 **It is long overdue but here is chapter 35. It isn't much, I know, but this chapter should open doors for some interesting stuff coming up and I'm excited about it. I hope you like it and please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!**

* * *

The sun was high in they sky above Montauk beach and the sea breeze blowing off the ocean felt amazing on my face. As many things had been over the past month, it was weird being at Montauk for the weekend without the kids, but then I guess we needed to get used to having our summer traditions cut down to just the two of us again. And for the moment I was perfectly content with having come without them.

To no one's surprise, it took only a few days for the kids' absence in the house to become more than noticeable and no more than a week for missing them to set in bad. The house was too big and too quiet, and there were constantly leftovers at meals. But they were where they needed to be and I couldn't have been happier to know the three of them were at my favorite place in the world, even if I did miss them like crazy.

I currently lounged on the beach just within reach of the waves. Annabeth sat several feet back, out of the water's reach and content with her blanket and a book. She'd be back in once she grew hot again but the ocean had always been more my thing than hers.

There were other families spread across the sand but not so many that they bothered us. I preferred it that way anyway. A god couldn't pop into existence right there and ruin our vacation if there were mortals around to see it. Or at least that's what I told myself—if an Olympian really wanted to bother us, a few humans and broad daylight were not about to stop it from happening.

We'd planned the weekend trip a few weeks back after debating the worth of going alone and eventually deciding that we'd enjoy it and the kids couldn't fault us for going without them just because they were at camp. We arrived before dinner the night before, after getting off work and dropping Ollie at my parents' apartment. In keeping with tradition, we had absolutely no agenda for the weekend. We'd watched movies in the cabin's tiny living room long into the night and hit the beach late this morning. It had been just over two hours and as another wave broke and washed ashore, reaching just past my calves and filling me with familiar strength, I could find very little wrong with the world.

A few minutes passed and I was watching a couple play with their young son in the water a short ways down the beach when a familiar set of hands came to rest on my bare shoulders. "You're going to need more sunblock soon," Annabeth said lightly, crouching down beside me. I gave an easy nod.

Another wave washed over my feet and I turned to her with a smile to find her eyes still on me. "What?" I asked.

She smiled, looking very much like a goddess in the sunlight as the wind blew stray wisps of hair in her face. She brushed them absently away, shaking her head. "You know I like seeing you here," she said, smirking. "The beach still looks good on you."

I laughed. "Oh yeah?"

"Mhmm," she answered lightly, shifting to kneel in the sand next to me, her eyes landing on the little family I'd been watching before. She smiled at the surprised laugh that escaped the toddler as a wave washed over his feet. "Gods, he's adorable," she said.

"Yeah," I agreed, smiling as another wave came and the boy squealed.

Annabeth laughed. "Nicky used to do that."

I grinned. "Yeah, he did. It used to crack me up."

She remained beside me for another few seconds, still smiling, before she squeezed my arm and moved to stand. "Come on, I was serious about that sunblock."

I rolled my eyes up to look at her and was met with unwavering resolve. I sighed, "Fine," and moved to follow. She was probably right anyway.

"I've been trying to figure out what to do for lunch," she said casually, leading the way to the blanket and crouching to dig through the bag she'd brought. She pulled from it the blue bottle of sunscreen and held it out to me. "I was thinking maybe we could go to that deli you like down the road."

"Fine by me," I replied, taking it from her, "When do you want to go?"

"That's up to you," she said, straightening,

"You know me, I'm fine to go right now if you want to. Do you want to change first?"

"Well, yeah," she answered, "I can't exactly go like this," she gestured to the bathing suit she wore.

"Well, I mean, you _could_ …" She made a face at me. I laughed. "Here," I said, putting the sunblock, untouched, back in the bag, "Let's go now, we can come back later. I'll put this on then."

She smirked. "Fine."

In keeping up appearances for any nearby mortals who happened to lack the ability to will themselves dry on command, I accepted a towel from her and shouldered the bag while she shook out and wadded up the blanket she'd been lounging on. We walked the short distance to the cabin together and I followed her inside to the tiny living space that, after as many years as I'd been visiting, was nearly as familiar as my own home. I left the beach bag on the table and joined Annabeth in the tiny bedroom. She rummaged through her bag and pulled free a blue sundress, which she laid across the bed before her. She watched as I found a T-shirt and pulled it over my head.

"What?" I asked.

She just shook her head, smirking, and turned for the door. "I'll be right back."

I heard the water in the shower turn on a moment later and I padded out to the living room to wait while she rinsed off. Annabeth hated the sand and saltwater residue the beach left behind—I supposed most people did. It didn't really bother me and I had every intention of going back later anyway. I sat down on the old couch and watched the beach out the window. I heard the water go off shortly after this, but the sound I heard a moment later was not of my wife walking to join me. It was the quiet, moist sound I recognized quickly as the beginnings of an Iris Message. I turned away from the window to see a familiar face forming before me and smiled. "Hey!"

The image sharpened and the face of my oldest son grew clearer. "Hi, Dad," he said.

"How's it going?" I asked, sitting forward, "How's camp?"

"It's good," he said slightly dismissively, "Is Mom around?"

"She should be out any minute," I answered, studying him through the mist. He seemed off, but like he was trying to hide that anything was up. But he'd gone through the trouble of IMing, which in itself was slightly odd—anything the kids wanted to tell us, they normally just included in weekly letters home and saved their drachmas. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," he said quickly, "Well, sort of, yeah. That's why I called."

Annabeth appeared then, dressed and damp, and hurried over when she saw the IM. "Logan, are you okay?" she asked, sitting beside me, obviously having reached the same conclusion I did in far less time—as usual.

Logan suddenly looked nervous. "Hi, Mom."

"What's going on, honey?" Her tone was gentle but unwavering.

He hesitated for a few seconds before he began, "We…" He took a deep breath. "I have a quest…"

I blinked and felt Annabeth's hand slide into mine and squeeze—whether it was supposed to be for my comfort or her own I wasn't sure. "Doing what?" I managed.

"And who's 'we'?" she asked from beside me.

"To be honest, I don't totally know what we're doing," he admitted. I felt my eyes narrow a bit. "It's for Demeter. She's the one who, well, commissioned it, I guess."

"What do you have to do?" Annabeth pressed.

"Well, we don't actually know yet," he explained, "We know something was taken from her and we have to get it back. She said she would give us more details once we actually left. I guess she doesn't want word getting out about whatever it is."

"So she wants you to blindly leave for a quest you know nothing about." She shook her head. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I'm guessing you accepted it?" I asked.

He nodded. "I mean, I didn't really think there was much choice. I'd kind of prefer it if the gods didn't hate me."

"We know, honey," Annabeth said gently.

"Yeah… so we're leaving in the morning."

"Who's going with you?"

He looked down. "About that…" He glanced up and away again. "I want Nicky. Or… at least, I _did_."

"Why?" I asked.

He met my eyes, and then Annabeth's. "Because I trust him more than anyone else."

I blinked and then opened my mouth to answer. Annabeth beat me to it. "That's great, Logan," she said, glancing briefly at me and then back to him, "But I think your dad meant why don't you still want him with you?" I had.

He sighed. "Well, I do. It's just, um... the prophecy…"

Understanding flashed in Annabeth's gray eyes, a matching set to our son's. "What does it say?"

Logan eyed her for a second and then took a deep breath. He spoke as if reading his own obituary. " _The season's fate shall lie in your hands. You shall uncover an old foe's well-laid plans. When siblings rival, your work shall fail. But with sacrifice, brotherly love shall prevail."_

There was silence between the three of us for a three-count. Annabeth broke it, her face betraying none of the emotion evidenced by how tightly she was gripping my hand. "Is that why you don't want to take Nicky with you?"

He nodded, eyes downcast. "I still do," he said quietly, "But it sounds like if I do that, it means we'll fail."

She took a deep breath. "Prophecies are deceptive, honey. It's impossible to know what they mean at least until after whatever they predict is over."

"I know that," Logan mumbled.

"You can't try to change your plans based on what a prophecy says," she went on, "Whatever is meant to happen will happen regardless. You just have to do what you think is best and try not to worry about it." She spoke, of course, purely from her own experience with the same type of thing.

"You don't know that it means what you think it does," I added, "Chances are it doesn't."

He nodded. "Well I don't really have a choice anyway I guess. It's not like Nicky's going to let me bench him now."

"Where is your brother?" Annabeth asked.

"He was getting money and supplies from Chiron. I wanted to IM you. He should be back soon."

"Is anyone else going with you?" I asked, hoping the answer was yes.

Logan nodded. "Yeah. His name's Sean. He's an Ares camper but he's pretty cool and he's a good fighter. He volunteered to come and we can probably use the help."

"And you trust him?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do," he answered, "I mean as much as I can from owning with him at Capture the Flag. It's not like we've had to fight wars together or anything. But yeah I think so."

I nodded. "Good."

"Does Carly know what's going on?" Annabeth asked now.

Logan made a face. "Yeah. She's not super thrilled about us leaving her but she'll be okay. Molly's going to keep an eye on her while we're gone." That was a good thing at least. My half-sister Molly adored Carly and the feeling was mutual. She'd take good care of her while the boys were gone.

Before either of us could respond, a door closed somewhere out of view of the Iris Message and someone asked something I couldn't make out over the connection. Logan looked off to the side. "In here," he called. "Nick's back," he supplied, turning back at us again. He was joined a second later by his brother.

"Hi," Nicky said to us and glanced sideways at Logan.

"I was letting Mom and Dad know what's going on," the latter informed him.

Nicky looked back at us. "You're okay with it?" he asked.

I blinked. Annabeth spoke first. "With you going off on a dangerous quest you don't even have all the details for? Of course not, but you still have to do it. We know that."

Nicky glanced away and nodded. Logan was quiet for a moment. "We'll be safe," he promised.

"You'd better," she told him, "Or I'll ground you both for a month." Logan managed a small smile that did not quite mask the apprehension in his eyes. He was terrified, and with good reason. Leading a quest was not something that could ever be taken lightly, but he was a good fighter and a great leader and I had faith in his abilities, even if the thought of letting him and Nicholas leave camp in the morning scared me senseless. But they had no choice and neither did we, and more than anything else they needed our support.

"Be smart," I advised them, "Don't let your guard down. Make sure you have a plan." A flash of amusement crossed Annabeth's face for the briefest moment and I knew it was because I had never been great at following my own advice at their age. But I'd learned a thing or two from her over the years and I didn't want my boys making the same mistakes I did.

They nodded now. "We will," Logan assured me.

"Rest up tonight. Keep us posted if you can," Annabeth said.

"We'll try."

"Okay," she said, "We love you."

"Love you too," they said as one. I almost smiled.

A moment later, goodbyes were finished and the image of the boys dissolved, leaving the space of the tiny living room in its place. We sat in silence for a few seconds, staring at the spot where they had been. Beside me, Annabeth drew in a sudden, shaky breath. "Oh my gods," she murmured.

"You okay?" I asked, squeezing the hand I still held.

She took a breath. "I don't know."

"Hey," I said, letting go of her hand and pulling her to my chest. I hugged her to me. "It's alright. They'll be alright."

"You don't know that," she whispered, "You know better than anyone how much that isn't guaranteed."

"You can't think like that, babe. We made it work; they can too. We just have to trust them." Honestly, I wasn't sure if I was trying to assure her or myself, but the logic seemed to help her a bit.

She took a deep breath and then pulled away, straightening. She shook her head. "I don't like that Demeter is withholding information. It makes me think whatever it is they have to find, it's important enough to cause chaos among the gods if they found out it was gone."

"Zeus' bolt all over again," I muttered.

She met my eyes, "Things on Olympus only just got back to normal."

I sighed. "Hopefully it doesn't come to that. Hopefully whatever is going on can be caught early enough to prevent anything huge and awful from happening and that'll be it." Her gaze turned slightly incredulous. "What?" I demanded, "It's got to happen that way eventually. Not everyone can be as unlucky as we are."

Maybe in spite of herself, she gave a small laugh before growing serious again. "I just hate that it's our kids who have to do this. You'd think after everything we did, we'd be able to spare at least one generation."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. I wish I could say I was more surprised though."

"I know," she replied, sighing herself. She glanced toward the window and the beach beyond, full of people enjoying their day; oblivious to the news we'd just received. She stared for a few seconds, gathering herself. Then she took a deep breath and met my eyes again. "Do you still want to get lunch?"

I blinked at her. "Are you actually hungry?" She tended not to be when she was worried.

"Not really," she admitted, "But there's nothing we can do about the quest regardless of whether we're here or home, and we've been looking forward to this trip for weeks. We should do our best to enjoy it."

I studied her for a second and then managed a small smile. "Okay," I decided, "Yeah, let's go get some lunch." She nodded and moved to stand up but I held out a hand to keep her down. She stopped and looked at me. "Hold on," I said. She raised her eyebrows. I ignored her reaction and leaned in, bringing my lips gently to hers. "You're incredible," I told her when we pulled apart a second later.

"I know," she said with a slightly forced smirk.

"Yeah?" I said, moving to stand now myself, "Well good. Let's go then."

With a roll of her eyes, she moved to follow, and while I knew the worry and fear that would accompany the coming days was only just beginning, for the moment, with the boys still at camp and safe, I was happy to try and be normal.

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 **I am so glad to have this posted. It literally took me so long to write for no good reason. Anyway, thanks for reading and I will be back ASAP with an update, I promise!  
**


	36. In The Waiting

**Hi guys!**

 **I've honestly been struggling so much in finding motivation to write lately, so I'm sorry for that. However, I plan to see this story through to the end, no matter how long it takes. Thank you so much for bearing with me. Please accept** **this** **really late and probably too short and, in my opinion, kind of rushed-feeling update. I only like about half of it but I'm at a loss as to how to fix it and it's probably just me anyway. You've waited long enough. Enjoy!**

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My life had never been anything close to predictable. As a half-blood, that was just kind of how things worked. Even without the monster attacks and quests that popped up way more frequently than I would have liked, things had never exactly been what you'd call normal. But even with the regular chaos, there were also a few things that never seemed to change in my life. The comfort that came with being in my parents' apartment was one of those things and I found that I was extremely grateful for that right now—and not for the first time.

Sunday dinner at my parents' had been a weekly occurrence since shortly after Annabeth and I first got married, and it had quickly became something I looked forward to each week. It almost always took place at their apartment, and even as the kids started coming and our family grew, my mom never grew any less enthusiastic to have us all crammed in the small place—none of us ever really minded either. Sunday nights usually included dinner and either board games or movies, and even when life was hectic and stressful with three kids and full-time jobs, they made the prospect of the upcoming week a little less daunting.

Tonight was no different. Annabeth and I arrived at six like always and my mom had dinner—chicken marinara this time—hot and ready for us. We hugged hello and were quickly directed to the table. A few minutes later, the food was served and the normalcy of it all was almost enough to pretend we weren't all well aware of just how long it had been since we'd heard anything from the boys.

It had been the longest eight days I'd had in some time, during which I gained a whole new respect for my mother for all my constant questing and disappearing I put her through growing up. Travelling around risking my life and saving the world was one thing, but being the parent at home waiting for news was infinitely worse. By this point, I would have given my right arm, sword included, for some sort of update as to what was going on with them. Over a week had passed and so far we'd heard nothing.

Nights were the worst. During the day, with the regular distractions of life, it was possible to get by without going too crazy over it, but laying in bed each night, with nothing else to think about, all the horrors from our own quests came flooding back to me. I'd never wanted any of that for my kids and the idea of the boys having to endure it now, even if it was just a quest and not the start of another world-ending war—at least I prayed not—I hated knowing they were in danger. Even worse was the fact that we still didn't know much about the quest itself, as neither Logan nor Nicky had contacted us since setting out and, apparently, learning more about their objective. I didn't know how to feel about that. On one hand, I knew firsthand how secretive the Olympians could be at times and it wasn't a very large stretch at all to think that whatever Demeter wanted from the boys, she'd sworn them to secrecy and threatened to smite them from the planet if they didn't agree. On the other, I'd certainly withheld my own large share of information from my mom over the years and while I hoped our sons knew how very different the situation with us was, I couldn't help wondering if they were trying to keep us from worrying the way I'd done with her.

Ignoring the elephant in the room and withholding the questions I knew she wanted to ask, my mom addressed Annabeth and asked instead about her parents' upcoming move to New York. "They've found a few houses they're interested in," she answered from beside me. "They're planning to visit the end of next month to see them in person."

"Are they still looking at Long Island?" Paul asked.

"They like the area," she explained, "but they're actually leaning more toward Westchester now. That's where most of the houses they're looking at are."

My mom nodded. "I can understand why they like it there."

Annabeth mirrored the action. "I think they're anxious to have it all over with."

"Well they've been in that house for a long time," my mom replied, "I'd imagine it's a lot of work to pack up thirty plus years of your life and move it across the country." I considered that and was appropriately intimidated. We hadn't been in our house for half that long and even with our modest lifestyle; the thought of doing that seemed daunting.

"It is, for sure. My brothers aren't too far from them though so at least they can make the trip on the weekends to help with the bigger stuff. I just hope Theresa asks for the help when she needs it."

"How do they feel about the move?" Paul asked. "Your brothers."

"I think they're fine with it," Annabeth answered him, "I haven't heard anything to suggest otherwise. Matthew, at least, plans to leave California once he and Liz are married anyway. Bobby's happy there but he lives over an hour away from San Francisco and they're both busy so I'm not sure how much of the girls my parents really see anyway." She glanced at me. "I think they're happy for the opportunity to see more of us once they're here."

My parents nodded and after a slight pause, my mom spoke up, her tone gentle. "And how do _you_ feel about it?" It was no secret that, despite the huge progress that had been made in the time since, the initial years between Annabeth and the Chases had been rocky at best. She'd grown much closer to her father and his wife since growing up and getting married, but the vast distance between them for the majority of that time had probably been a somewhat protective factor. I'd be lying if I said the same thought hadn't crossed my own mind since the move had been announced. We'd discussed it more than once.

Annabeth took a thoughtful breath. "I'm okay with it, I think," she admitted before elaborating. "I want my dad to know my kids and to be in their lives, and I think it might be good to have them closer. They handle things with me a lot better than they used to, so it should be okay." She lifted her gaze from where it had been fixed to the table and met my mom's eyes. Something passed between them and the meaning was clear. It would be okay; she'd make it so.

My mom had long since been more than a mother-in-law to Annabeth, years before we even considered getting married. There were some days that I was pretty sure she loved her more than she loved me and I wasn't entirely convinced the feeling wasn't mutual. They'd formed a bond way back during those months I'd been missing before the Giant War, and nothing, it seemed, would ever be able to come between them, even all these years later. It was something I was incredibly thankful for, actually. Of all people, Annabeth deserved that much.

"Will you all be travelling out to California for Matthew's wedding?" Paul asked now, broaching the subject she'd mentioned in passing before.

"We aren't sure yet," she responded, "Obviously, I'd like to be there but they're getting married in October and it's hard to go anywhere during the school year." She paused for a second and looked between them, "If anything, we'd maybe see if you'd mind watching the kids for the weekend and go ourselves."

"Whatever you need, honey," my mom assured her, "It's no sacrifice on our part to have them. You know we're always here."

I smiled. "I'll let you know," Annabeth promised.

The rest of dinner passed like that, uneventful and pretty normal. I asked Paul about Goode and the attention shifted to him as he answered me. It always surprised me that anyone could want to teach high school for as long as my stepdad had by now—my own four years in that environment had been more than enough to make me never want to go back, thank you very much. But Paul loved his work and the kids he taught, and even though he was easily old enough to retire by now, he had no desire to. And honestly, the kids at Goode were probably better for it. He was one of the most dedicated teachers I knew and the students loved him.

As it was nearly July, school was out for the summer but Paul had agreed to help with a bi-weekly summer bridge program the school district was having this year to help students who struggled get the upper hand on some of the curriculum before the new year started and they fell even more behind. I respected the idea a lot, having been in that position myself, extenuating circumstances aside, and I was not at all surprised Paul had wanted to be a part of the endeavor.

"Some of the students are there because their parents forced them," Paul explained, addressing Annabeth's comment about the kids' willingness to come in and do work during the summer, "But a surprising amount are there because they want to be. They do care and the extra help really benefits them. So overall the attitudes toward it aren't too bad."

"Aside from the fight you had to break up on Thursday," my mom added wryly from beside him.

"Well, yeah, if you can even call it a fight. The kid was attacked without provocation. I made sure the principal knew that."

My mom shook her head. "Kids these days."

"Oh, they're absolutely insane," he agreed, grinning.

My mom shook her head again and then addressed us all. "Alright. Has everyone had enough to eat?" When we informed her that we had, she stood and moved to gather the empty plates. The rest of us moved to help and were quickly shot down. "I've got it," she said, "You all stay and figure out whether we're watching a movie or playing a game." With that, she disappeared into the kitchen. Annabeth looked prepared to get up anyway but I stilled her with a hand to her thigh and stood up myself to take the leftovers to the kitchen myself.

"So what do you think, game or movie?" I heard Paul ask Annabeth as I left.

My mom was a step away from the doorway on her return trip for the dish I held. She jumped slightly and shook her head at me for not listening, but smiled as she took the leftovers from my hands to refrigerate. I crossed to the sink and ran the water to start the dishes. "Thank you, Percy."

"You're welcome," I said easily, not turning around.

It was quiet between us for a few minutes as she packaged the food in a container and put it away before bringing the dirty serving dish to me. She set it on the counter beside the sink and did not leave right away. She laid a hand on my shoulder and I met her eyes. "You okay?" I asked, unconcerned.

"You haven't heard anything at all?"

I looked back down at the plate I was scrubbing and, after a second, sighed. "No." I rinsed it and set it aside to dry before grabbing another.

She remained next to me for a second before sighing herself and stepping away. She grabbed a dishtowel from a drawer and took up a spot on my other side, reaching for the dishes I'd already washed. "How are you holding up?" she asked, drying a frying pan.

I thought about it for a five count before answering honestly, "I don't know." I glanced at her. "I know I underestimated everything I put _you_ through as a kid." She smirked. "We have it way easier in comparison."

She looked at me again, serious once more. "There is no comparison," she said firmly. She waited until I met her gaze before continuing. "Nothing about what you and Annabeth are going through waiting for news is in any way less unspeakable than what I did when it was you. As a parent, it goes against every instinct to let your child be put in danger. I never felt more helpless than when you were off on quests and I couldn't do anything to protect you. Never." By now I had stopped my work and stood with my hands resting on the sink's edge before me. My mom reached over and laid her hand on mine. "You know better than I ever could just what sort of things those boys are facing; you lived through them yourself. So don't believe for one second that you aren't allowed to be worried sick just because I had it worse. There's no such thing. Okay?" She waited until I nodded. No longer able to meet her eyes, I swallowed against the lump that had taken up residence in my throat. This was the most vulnerable I'd allowed myself to be since that IM with the boys.

"That being said," my mom went on now, reaching up to run an affectionate hand through my hair, "If those boys are anything like their parents, and I know they are, they'll figure out a way to be okay. You have to believe that."

I nodded, glancing at her. "I'm trying to. It's not easy."

"Oh, I know _that_ , believe me." I smirked and then leaned over to kiss her cheek, which, as always, made her smile.

I turned back to the sink then and decided to stop wasting water and get back to work. But I did feel better. As always, my mom had made sure of that.

We worked together for another couple of minutes, our conversation topic shifting to happier things, when Annabeth's voice sounded from the other room. "Percy!" Her tone had me setting down the silverware I was rinsing and hurrying from the room, my mom on my heels.

I found her in the living room with Paul, some unidentified board game half set up on the coffee table, both transfixed on the Iris Message that had appeared in the middle of the room, bearing the image of a familiar figure. I hurried over to join them, my pulse quickening.

In the IM, the Centaur's lips turned up slightly in greeting when he saw me, though the action did not meet his eyes. "Hello, Percy."

"Hey Chiron," I replied, my voice guarded even in my own ears. "What's going on?" I looked between the activities director and Annabeth. My parents looked on from behind us.

Annabeth shrugged, her gaze not leaving the camp activities director at the same moment he spoke up from the IM, "I wanted to update you together."

"Have you heard from the boys?" she asked him.

"I suppose you could say that, yes," he answered. His next words had my heart stumbling in my chest. "The quest members returned to Camp Half-Blood less than an hour ago."

"Thank gods," I said as Annabeth's hand found my own, relief clear in the action.

"Are they okay?" she asked, "Were they successful?"

I couldn't decide if it was just my imagination or if the Centaur hesitated before saying simply, "It was a difficult week for them but your sons are both alive."

Now I was worried. What on earth did that mean? _Alive_ did not necessarily mean _okay_ and Chiron seemed to be choosing his words carefully. I didn't like that.

Annabeth stilled beside me, which unfortunately shot down any doubt in my mind that I was reading into things too much. "What does that mean?" she demanded.

"I think it's best if I wait to give you more details until you can be here in person," Chiron replied, deflecting. "How quickly can you both get here?"

Beside me, Annabeth suddenly looked more scared than I'd seen her in years and honestly I couldn't say I was doing much better. "Oh gods," I heard from behind us. From the corner of my eye, I saw Paul wrap an arm around my mom's shoulders.

I felt my wife's eyes on me as I turned back to the Centaur who was our mentor and friend. I couldn't read the expression on his face, but with as many years as Chiron had been doing what he did, that meant little. He was silent, waiting on an answer. I met his gaze. "We're on our way."

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 **I'm sorry, I had to do it. I'll do my best to update soon, I promise.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	37. Whirlwind

**Hi. I'm once again so sorry for how long this update took. Life has been crazy lately and I just haven't wanted to work on writing. I am super excited to finally have this chapter done for you guys though and I think the next few chapters will be really interesting. I'm excited to get working on those for you guys now that things have calmed down a little. Thank you all so much for your incredible patience and support. I WILL finish this story for you, I promise!**

 **A quick disclaimer: I actually am not caught up with the ToA books. I read the first one when it came out a few years ago but haven't kept up with the series since. I've been writing this story from the start operating under the premise of including only PJO and HoO, so if there is anything in any of these chapters that doesn't line up with the canon for those books, that is why. I honestly have no idea what happens in that series except for the few things I've been spoiled about. I'm not sure if I'll eventually catch up with it or not, but none of that will be factored into this fanfic, just so you are all aware and to prevent any possible confusion.**

 **That being said, I've been planing this chapter for a while and I'm really happy with how it all turned out. I'm excited to share it with you. Enjoy!**

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The hour-long drive to Camp Half-Blood from my parents' apartment was the longest of my life. We'd left immediately, my parents' concerned eyes on our backs and requests for an update as soon as possible shouted after us as we hurried for the door. We seemed to hit every red light in the city and got stuck behind every slow driver possible.

The ride was a largely silent one. I kept both hands on the wheel the whole way, knuckles white with my grip, while a million scenarios played out in my mind, each one worse than the last. I knew too well just how badly things could go on a quest, and the idea that the boys had been in so much danger, that they were hurt, threatened to drive me crazy.

After what seemed like an eternity, the base of Half-Blood Hill came into view. I maneuvered the car to a stop in the grass and met Annabeth's eyes before turning off the engine. She held my stare for a second but shook her head when I opened my mouth. "Let's just go," she whispered, breaking eye contact and moving to get out. Which was just as well—I had no idea what I'd been about to say anyway.

The eyes of nearby campers followed us as we approached the Big House; their expressions held varying degrees of curiosity and concern. Chiron waited for us on the porch, his bottom half compacted into his magical wheelchair. He nodded in greeting but said nothing. Maybe the blatant worry in Annabeth's expression, which I'm sure was mirrored in my own, said clearly how unconcerned we currently were with pleasantries. "This way," he said, turning for the door. He spoke as he led the way inside, navigating the familiar route to the camp infirmary. "I don't know how much the boys were able to tell you prior to leaving last week—"

"Not much," Annabeth put in.

He nodded. "I'm afraid the was the case for the rest of us here as well. Demeter issued the quest and she was exceptionally careful to keep things on a need to know basis. Unfortunately, this probably only contributed to what happened."

I clenched my jaw at his words. The gods never learned! "And what happened?" I asked.

Chiron stopped outside the infirmary doors and faced us. "There hasn't been time for any official debriefing yet, but from what we've gathered, Persephone disappeared several weeks ago. She'd been staying with her mother at the time and Demeter chose to keep knowledge of the situation as contained as she could until it could be determined what happened." He looked between us before continuing. "It turned out Persephone, goddess of fertility as well as springtime, was taken by the Titans Hyperion and Krios as part of a plot to rebirth Kronos to continue where he left off before you defeated him. The Titans managed to escape Tartarus and planned to force her to assist them."

"My gods," Annabeth murmured, wide-eyed, "They didn't succeed, did they?"

"Thankfully, no," the Centaur answered solemnly, "But unfortunately that's where the good news ends." A fist wrapped around my heart at his words. "The boys tracked down the Titans and were able to release the goddess, but they weren't able to escape before they were found." Chiron sighed before he went on, "The Titans attacked with full-force. Persephone was so weak from her weeks of imprisonment that she was unable to help much in defending them. Your boys were injured, Logan severely, and Sean, the third member of the quest, didn't survive."

Annabeth gasped quietly at this news. "Did the Titans get away?" I forced myself to ask. If the answer was yes, I honestly wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"Krios did," Chiron answered. "Mr. D has made the rest of the gods aware of the situation and I expect they're pursuing him even as we speak. Don't worry about that; they have it under control."

Honestly, it was that very fact that _had_ me worried, but for the time being, there was nothing to be done. That wasn't why we'd come all the way out here in such a hurry and it was no longer Annabeth's or my responsibility to keep track of the gods' many problems. So I pushed that concern aside and nodded. I had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

"Can we see the boys?" Annabeth asked now. Chiron nodded and moved his chair aside, allowing us access. I pushed the infirmary door open and together we made our way inside.

The infirmary looked almost exactly as it had during my own days as a camper. Beds lined the walls on each side, interspaced between several windows whose open curtains allowed fading sunlight into the room. A few beds near the front were occupied by orange-clad half-bloods with what looked like minor injuries: a cut forehead, a burned leg, and an ankle in the middle of being bandaged by another camper. I didn't pay them much attention though as soon as a familiar figure stood up from the foot of a bed at the other end of the room and hurried for us. We moved as one toward Nicholas as he rushed forward and wrapped an arm around each of us. His right wrist bore a cast that dug not unwelcomingly into my back as he held tight and cried onto Annabeth's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said through the tears, his words muffled in the fabric of her shirt, "It's my fault. I'm s-sorry."

"Shh," Annabeth crooned, "Nicky, shh, it's okay. You're alright."

He shook his head against her and, for the first time, pulled back to look at us. He bore a fading black eye and a fat lip, which trembled slightly as he whispered, "It's my fault."

"What's your fault?" I asked quietly, conscious of the eyes on us.

He looked between us before his gaze settled on me and he answered, "Logan."

At the sound of our other son's name, Annabeth and I looked up as one to the spot Nicky had come from, to the occupied bed at the end of the room and the still, dark-haired teenager in it. Nicky, clearly sensing our concern, stepped aside and followed us over to where his brother lay unconscious.

His hair was a mess and the purple beneath his eyes suggested he hadn't gotten much sleep over the past few days, but from what I could see of Logan, he seemed largely unscathed. Annabeth reached forward and laid a hand against his cheek. She turned worried eyes on me, fear emanating from every inch of her. I held her gaze for a second before looking at Nicky with the intention of asking him what had happened when a voice sounded from behind us. "He hasn't woken up yet." We turned to find a girl of maybe seventeen with blonde hair and blue eyes—a daughter of Apollo—standing several feet back and watching us with regret. "Sorry," she added, "I didn't mean to intrude."

"What's wrong with him?" Annabeth asked, pulling her hand back and turning to face the girl.

She took a deep breath before answering. "He took a sword through his abdomen. He was lucky in that his major organs were spared, but… there was damage to his spine." My breath caught against my will at that.

"How bad?" Annabeth asked in a whisper.

"It's still too early to tell, really," the camper explained. "It's probably going to take a few weeks for the inflammation to go down. After that, it depends exactly where in his spine the sword hit and how deep, but he might walk again."

" _Might?_ " I demanded.

The Apollo camper, calm as ever, simply nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Oh my gods," Annabeth breathed, turning back to Logan as tears finally broke free and traced their way down her cheeks. I looked down at our oldest son and grabbed his hand, blinking hard and trying hard to force down the lump in my throat.

I glanced over at Nicky, standing to the side of the bed and staring helplessly down at his brother, tears still silently falling. I let out a breath and moved toward him. "Come here," I said, moving to hug him. He allowed it and returned the gesture after a few seconds. I felt Annabeth's eyes on us. "Hey," I said, pulling back to meet his eyes. He kept his glued to the floor. "Look at me," I told him. He did. "This is not your fault," I said, enunciating each word. He opened his mouth to object but I went on before he could. "Listen. It doesn't matter what happened. It's not your fault. Okay?"

He slowly glanced down again and was quiet for several seconds. I waited. Finally he mumbled, "But it was supposed to be me."

"What was supposed to be you?" Annabeth asked, coming around the bed to stand next to me.

"There," he said, his voice breaking, "In the bed, hurt. Not able to walk. It should be me."

"Don't say that, Nicky!" she admonished him.

"It's true!" he cried, looking up and between us now, green eyes blazing with conviction and guilt, "He was aiming for _me_. _I_ was the one he wanted!" A glance at me. "Because I look s-so much like _you_. Logan…" Nicky glanced away again. "He jumped in front." He struggled to talk around the sobs escaping him now. "He g-got skewered p-protecting me. It's m-my fault!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, grabbing his upper arms, "Who was aiming for you?"

Nicky took a deep breath and after a few seconds answered, "Hyperion." A single tear escaped his eye and followed the track down his check as he stared at the writing on my T-shirt. "Logan jumped in f-front and pushed me away. He… he took the hit himself." He took a shaky breath.

I swallowed around the lump suddenly forming in my throat once more, fighting against an onslaught of emotions at this news. I forced myself to take a breath, pulling him to me. "That doesn't make this your fault." Nicky's body shook as he cried, holding tightly to me. I hugged him through it and met Annabeth's eyes as she stroked our son's unruly hair. They were bright with tears.

Half a minute passed before Nicky pulled away and reached for his mother, hugging her too. When they stepped apart, Annabeth held his gaze, brushing a stray tear from his red face. "Do you want to tell us what happened?" she asked him gently.

After a pause, Nicky swallowed hard and lapsed into the story, glossing over most of the details but still giving us more information than Chiron had. "The Titans have been trying to find ways to get back into power ever since you beat them in the Titan War. Hyperion and Krios reformed and made it back to the mortal world, I guess, a year or so ago. They kept hoping some of their siblings would escape too, but I guess they got tired of waiting. They kidnapped Persephone a few weeks before Demeter gave us the quest because they hoped she'd be able to help them somehow eventually allow Kronos to come back. It took us a few days to find them and we ran into a couple monsters that slowed us down but we eventually tracked them to New Orleans. They were hiding out in a warehouse there until they could regroup and grow strong enough to actually mount an attack against the gods.

"Persephone was chained up inside. We snuck in and freed her, but she'd been resisting the Titans the whole time and she was super weak." He paused for a second, his eyes faraway in the memory. "We got caught on the way out. T-they came out of nowhere. Sean…" He swallowed hard, shaking his head. "Krios killed him before anyone could do anything, c-cut him almost in half..." A shaky breath. "Persephone was really weak but she ran at Krios anyway and started fighting with him. She yelled at us to run, but there wasn't a way out. Hyperion wanted Logan and me." He looked between us momentarily before studying the floor again. "Because of you guys."

I risked a glance beside me at Annabeth now. She looked murderous. In that moment, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if she'd gone after the Titans herself—right then and there. I would have helped her.

Nicky continued on, the words flooding out now like a dam had broken inside him. "H-he went on about how much he hated you." A glance at me. "How you'd be the first person he killed once their plan worked." He met my eyes now; his own filled with tears and horror. "He was… going to kill me first because I look just like you. He said it would be almost as good as if it was you. H-he swung his sword so f-fast… there wasn't t-time to do anything. But Logan, he-he was faster somehow. He j-jumped in f-front of the s-sword…"

The poor kid was openly sobbing again. Annabeth moved toward him again. "Honey, you don't have to—"

"I'm o-okay," he insisted around a ragged breath. "You have to know."

"We will eventually, Nicky. Take a break. Logan won't—"

"Not him."

She narrowed her eyes slightly in confusion. "What?"

He shook his head stubbornly. "It's not…" He stopped and took a deep breath. Tears still ran down his face but he was able to speak more clearly now. "Just listen. After Logan… fell, I was screaming and crying and everything. The Titans were laughing. Hyperion, he… he kicked Logan aside and went for me again, but a spear came out of nowhere and blocked the strike."

I blinked. "Someone saved you?"

Nicky met our gazes openly now, his tears having slowed with the momentum of this part of his account. He nodded. "Iapetus."

I froze. "What?"

"The Titan. Iapetus," he repeated. And even with everything going on, with my eldest son lying unconscious and paralyzed just feet from me, his words had my heart settling in my stomach. I glanced at Annabeth for confirmation, but her equally startled expression convinced me that I'd heard correctly.

Nicky went on, unfazed. "Hyperion and Krios had been trying to recruit others to their cause, sending messages out and stuff. Before we got caught, we heard them talking about how their brothers—Iapetus and Koios?—hadn't reformed yet, so I guess it must have been pretty recent that Iapetus did." He paused momentarily before going on. "He must have heard me yelling or something and he came. He blocked Hyperion's sword and started fighting him and yelling for us to go…" Tears were welling in his eyes again but he met my gaze firmly and told me, "He wasn't going to win that fight, I could tell. Hyperion was better than him. He said to tell you he remembered everything and he liked being Bob better. He said thank you for telling the stars hello."

I saw more than felt my body jerk as I straightened, feeling very overwhelmed. It was all too much. I felt a tear escape my left eye and begin to fall as I crossed unsteadily to a nearby chair and sat down before I fell down. I felt a hand on my shoulder—likely Annabeth's, but I couldn't make my brain focus enough to acknowledge it.

Bob. Iapetus, but _Bob_. He had saved Nicky. After all these years, he'd reformed. He remembered everything; our time with him, every lie I'd told him, all the things he'd done. He remembered and he'd saved our son anyway. He chose to be Bob. He'd somehow escaped Tartarus and, for the second time now, willingly chose to die again for me, for my family. And he'd told _me_ thank you. Gods of Olympus…

After several long seconds, I lifted my head from my hands and found Annabeth crouched before me, tears in her own awe-filled gaze. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

I took a breath and nodded, aware that I was completely breaking down right now for my son to see but unable to do much about it. "It's just…" I trailed off, unsure how to even sum up what it all was. Many of my worst fears had come true today; and this completely unexpected news, this reconciliation of the regret that had plagued me for years, the ramifications of the fatal flaw I lived with and through every day, it was huge. The relief was such a foreign emotion to everything else I'd felt since Chiron's IM had appeared in my parents' living room.

Annabeth placed a hand over mine. "I know."

I held her gaze for another moment before looking up. Nicky still stood beside Logan's bed, paying us very little mind or maybe just acting very successfully. But the deep remorse in his green gaze as he stared down at his injured brother was enough to push that last thought quickly aside. I recognized that look, I'd seen it in the mirror tons of times throughout my life, and in that moment, I wasn't entirely sure I was the only one flawed with extreme loyalty.

I noticed, for the first time, that the Apollo camper had left at some point and had closed a curtain shut around us, separating us from the rest of the Infirmary. I wasn't sure how much the room's other occupants could still hear, but for the moment I didn't care. The privacy was a blessing.

Annabeth straightened but remained beside me as she asked Nicky what happened next. He lifted his eyes from Logan and answered, "Persephone. She got away from Krios and ran to us while Hyperion was busy. As soon as she touched us we vanished. She brought us here. She was in really bad shape by the time she did though. Mr. D took her to Olympus with him. But she saved us. Her and Bob."

"Thank gods," Annabeth murmured in the brief quiet that followed.

"Chiron said Krios got away," I recalled, standing up on now steadier feet and addressing Nicky, "He didn't say anything about Hyperion. Do you know what happened with him?"

He shook his head. "I don't think Bob would have beat him. I hope he did anyway. But once we got here, everyone was worried about Logan and making sure he was okay, and I didn't really ask about any of that. I'm sor—"

"No, don't be sorry," I interrupted, "You didn't do anything wrong, you hear me? Not in any of this."

Staring down, Nicky just nodded. Annabeth moved forward before I could. She kissed his head and held him for a while. "Carly's still with Molly," he piped up after a silence. "I don't know how much she knows. I told—"

"She's okay," Annabeth assured him. "Let her stay away for now." He grew silent again. She let him go and pointed out, "You look exhausted. When's the last time you slept?" He shrugged halfheartedly in answer. "Go to bed," she told him gently. Before he got the chance to protest, she added, "Take one of the beds in here. It's not busy."

Nicky stared at his mother for several seconds before sighing and moving to obey. Pushing the privacy curtain open slightly, he crossed to the empty bed beside Logan's and curled up on it. He cast one last worried look at his brother before closing his eyes. He was asleep in seconds.

Annabeth and I watched the two of them sleep in silence for a minute or two before she turned and leaned into my chest, wrapping her arms around me. We held each other tightly for a long time, not crying or speaking, just watching the boys and taking comfort in the closeness of the other. So much had happened. My nightmares had come to life today. Our kids were hurt and traumatized. Our oldest child would likely never walk again. More sacrifices had been made for our benefit than I ever could have imagined. But at least the boys were back, they were home. And things had to go up from here.

* * *

 **I was a little unsure of how to approach this whole subject because I really wanted some closure with the whole Bob situation but I didn't just want him to show up or anything. I think this was a good compromise and a very "Bob" thing to do. I hope you liked it and I'd love to hear your thoughts.**

 **Thanks for reading and for putting up with the long wait! The new semester is starting soon but I am going to do my best to be better about posting, I swear I am!**


	38. Treading Water

**Hello!**

 **So this chapter is a little slower moving than I originally intended but I like the direction it took so I went with it.** **I am hoping to have things start moving forward from here pretty quickly and, now that I am back in the swing of things with school, I should hopefully have more regular updates for you all. Stay tuned!**

* * *

The next several hours were some of the longest of my life as we waited for Logan to wake up. Annabeth and I stood vigil over our sleeping sons, praying to any god who would listen that everything would be okay, that he would open his eyes, that he'd be able to walk, that we could go home and at the end of the summer he would join us with his siblings like normal. For a long time, nothing at all happened.

Chiron stopped by briefly and told us that he was on his way to debrief the gods on Olympus. He asked us if we'd learned anything further from Nicky about the quest. We told him what we knew. The Centaur took the news about Persephone's rescue and Bob's sacrifice in stride and inquired about an update on the boys before he left. He nodded sadly at the news that there'd been no change with Logan and promised to check back in the morning.

My half-sister brought Carly in at one point, despite the late hour. Both boys were still out cold and she looked between them in concern as we explained what had happened. She took the news with surprising grace and I found myself shocked at the maturity of my little girl, even while, knowing how much she favored her mother, it shouldn't have been all that surprising.

Our daughter was quiet for a moment, considering it all as she looked between us. Then her gaze fell on Annabeth and remained there and I swore in that moment she saw right through the façade of strength her mother had valiantly put forth since arriving. Carly moved forward and threw her arms around her without warning. "He'll be okay," she said with quiet confidence, "I know he will. Logan can do anything!" Annabeth froze for half a second before she hugged our daughter tightly. At her words, one of the tears she'd been so stubbornly holding back during the whole conversation escaped and traced its way down her cheek. Watching them, I had fight hard against my own tears. To Carly, Logan was invincible, her oldest brother who led the way for all of them, but I hoped against hope that she was right all the same.

Carly stayed with us until Molly came for her right before curfew, at which point the nine-year old reluctantly agreed to go with her for the night as long as we agreed to get her the second anything happened. Annabeth and I took up residence in the rickety chairs between the beds until the daughter of Apollo from earlier returned and stopped just inside the curtain. "You can take those beds," she offered, gesturing to the ones across from Logan and Nicholas, "I doubt we'll be needing them before the morning." They'd make for far from comfortable sleeping arrangements but I doubted either of us actually planned to get much sleep anyway.

"Thank you," I answered.

She nodded and glanced toward Logan before addressing us again. "No change?" We shook our heads in answer.

"Okay." She glanced toward Logan's again. "I, um, need to check his bandages. Did you want…"

"It's fine," Annabeth said quickly, her voice barely more than a whisper. The camper nodded but hesitated another second before moving toward her patient. We watched in silence as she drew the thin blanket away to reveal the thick bandage wrapping Logan's bare chest. My heart took up residence in the general vicinity of my throat when she cut through the fabric and carefully pulled it away to reveal the huge, packed hole, five inches across, at the base of his sternum. Annabeth released a tiny breath beside me and I reached for her hand. She gripped mine hard in reply.

We watched in silence as the camper cleaned the wound with Nectar and redressed it. "This is looking a lot better," she commented. If _that_ was better, I decided as she opened Logan's eyes one at a time and shined a light into them, I definitely didn't want to know what it looked like before. Annabeth had grown very still beside me. "He's looking pretty good otherwise," she went on, concluding her examination, "His pupils are responsive and there's no sign of infection anywhere so he should be waking up at any time."

"So why hasn't he?" I asked because I knew Annabeth was dying to know even more than I was and I wasn't sure she would have been able to ask herself right then."

The daughter of Apollo sighed. "His body's been through a lot," she answered simply, "Sleep is its way of healing and coping with it all. There's no real way of knowing how long it will take but he'll wake up when he's ready. We just have to wait it out."

I nodded. Annabeth stood up abruptly then, preventing me from saying anything more. She glanced at the teenager and then met my questioning eyes. "Stay with the boys," she said, "I just… need a minute." She left then and moved briskly for the door.

There was a moment of silence in the Infirmary as the daughter of Apollo and I watched her go. "I'm sorry," the blonde half-blood said then, her voice gentle, compassionate despite the awkwardness. "I can't imagine how hard this must be. I wish there was more I could do."

"You're doing plenty," I assured her quickly. "Thanks…" I trailed off awkwardly.

"Charlie," she supplied quickly, "Well, Charlotte actually but everyone calls me Charlie." She looked immediately embarrassed and tried to hide it. I vaguely wondered if she wasn't as nonplussed about her patient's renown as she let on.

"Charlie," I repeated.

She smiled halfheartedly and then walked toward Nicky, who still slept fitfully. Every few minutes he would jerk slightly and settle down again. I hated the thought that he was likely having nightmares but I knew it was inevitable and he needed sleep. She laid a hand on his shoulder and he relaxed slightly. She checked his casted arm and then, with a glance toward the exit, said, "So, I know it's none of my business but if you want to go after her, I'll be here. I can keep an eye on them."

I looked up at her and then between my sleeping sons, at war with myself. On one hand, I didn't want to leave their sides even for a second, but on the other, I knew there was nothing I could do here, while I _could_ go after my wife. For the moment, she needed me more than the boys did.

"Don't you need to get to your cabin?" I asked.

She shook her head. "We have a rotation of half-bloods in charge of night shift in the infirmary. For the next two hours, this _is_ my cabin."

"Oh," I said dumbly. I supposed that made sense. "Well, in that case I think I should take you up on that offer." I moved to stand. "Thank you."

She smiled. "I'd warn you to look out for the harpies who probably won't care that you aren't campers anymore, but I'm guessing you've dealt with a lot worse."

I gave a humorless laugh. "You'd be right unfortunately. I'll be right back."

"Take your time," she said easily, retreating to a chair in the middle of the long room and settling in with a book as I headed for the door.

* * *

Even an hour after curfew, with everyone inside and asleep for the night, Camp Half-Blood was far from a quiet place. As I crossed the dark area, setting a path toward the canoe lake and searching for signs of Annabeth—and also the harpies Charlie had mentioned, the familiar sounds of camp at night reached my peeled ears. Summer wind rustled nearby trees, nocturnal monsters shuffled around in the woods, and the waves of the Long Island Sound lapped the shore of the fireworks beach in the distance. With fireflies lighting up the warm night every few feet, it made for a peaceful scene and, under other circumstances, I might have really enjoyed it.

It became clear pretty quickly that I had very little clue as to where Annabeth might have gone after finding no sign of her at the lake, the cabins, or Thalia's tree. I rounded the side of the Big House, debating the merits of continuing my search in the dark or simply returning to the Infirmary to wait her out, when I ran into Chiron clomping quietly up the front steps. I briefly wondered if the Centaur ever found time to sleep. He saw me in the dim light of the Big House's front light and stopped. "Is everything okay, Percy?" he asked quietly. He amended quickly when I didn't immediately respond, "I'm sorry. I suppose very little about the current situation could be okay."

"No, I guess not," I replied.

"I'm so sorry, my boy."

I shrugged. "It's not your fault."

"That never does seem to make it any easier," he said wistfully, meeting my eyes. "I know you may not want it right now, but I'm afraid I have more bad news for you. It can wait until morning though, if you'd prefer."

I shook my head. "Just tell me."

He nodded. "I just returned from Olympus. While I was there, I asked Hades to look into the possibility that Hyperion and Iapetus had returned to Tartarus. We needed to know what we're still facing here." He paused before going on and in that moment I knew exactly what he was about to say. "Unfortunately, he was able to confirm that the essences of both Titans are once again scattered throughout the Great Pit. I'm sorry, Percy."

I'd known what was coming but the words still felt like a punch to the gut. It took several seconds before I was able to speak. Bob was gone, back in the depths of Tartarus once again. But at least he'd accomplished his goal in taking his evil brother with him and saving my sons. I shook my head. "I didn't really expect anything different," I admitted, "I… Thank you."

Chiron nodded solemnly. There was silence for a second and I wondered if the Centaur was refraining from saying something that might give me false hope. During his centuries as a trainer of demigods, he'd seen his fair share of tragedies, and while he'd never once been cruel, he was always honest. Finally he sighed. "I've seen you and Annabeth do some amazing things, Percy. Beyond what I ever could have imagined. Your family will get through this."

I nodded. "Thanks, Chiron."

He reached out a hand and gripped my shoulder encouragingly. "Get some rest, Percy."

"I'll try," I said quickly. "I just…" I trailed off with a sigh. "Annabeth left a few minutes ago. She needed a few minutes. I came out here to go after her but I'm thinking now she might just get mad at me for leaving the boys alone…"

Chiron gave a knowing smile. "She very well might," he agreed, which did not help a whole lot. "But if I've learned anything about Annabeth in all the years I've known her—and you know this as well as I do—she isn't as strong as she often pretends to be." I nodded. That, I did know. "Your sons need you, but so does she," he said. "Your boys are well taken care of."

I nodded again and met his gaze. "Have you seen her?"

The Centaur gave another small smile. "I haven't, but I would recommend checking the beach first." It was too late to check it first but I decided that was as good an idea as any. I thanked Chiron and wished him a good night before taking off in that direction.

The fireworks beach was on the very edge of camp, far from any of the light sources that remained on after curfew. Even with the time my eyes had to adapt to the dark on the walk over, it was a wonder I could see anything at all in the moon's meager light. But I could, just enough to navigate the uneven ground and locate Annabeth's silhouette seated on a log that had at some point been laid in the sand to serve as a bench. I made my way over, impressed once again with Chiron's sense of perception. I'd decided that focusing on anything but what had happened during the last hours of the boys' quest was preferable to reality.

She didn't react as I drew near and sat down beside her on the tree trunk. "Hey," I said quietly. I couldn't see well enough in the dimness to tell if she'd been crying, but her voice betrayed the truth when she spoke.

"I thought you were staying with the boys." Uh oh.

"Charlie's with them," I answered, "They're in good hands."

"Who's Charlie?" The fact that she had to ask made me feel better about not remembering the girl's name either. Maybe she just hadn't mentioned it.

"The Apollo camper in the infirmary." Her answering silence meant either fury or resignation. I couldn't tell which in the dark but I sincerely hoped for the latter. I didn't think I could handle Annabeth being mad at me on top of everything else right now. Normally, going after her wouldn't have been a big deal, but between my wife and my mom, if I'd learned anything in life, it was that maternal instincts were powerful things. When I couldn't take it anymore, I asked, "Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" she asked tiredly. Resignation then. I sighed and reached for her hand. She allowed me to take it and, after a second, gripped mine in return. "You know," she said then, "I spent so much time here when Hera took you, I think I conditioned myself into coming here whenever I'm upset. How many years has it been and I didn't even think about it. I just wound up here." I didn't reply. I didn't know what I was supposed to say. A few more seconds of silence passed between us and she took a ragged breath.

"Talk to me, babe," I said into the quiet.

She shook her head in the dimness. "What do you want me to say?" she asked and, after another moment, whispered, "Did you see that wound?"

I took a deep breath, fighting to keep from picturing it again. "Yeah, I did."

"He's our baby boy," she said.

I squeezed her hand, trying to ignore the tightening in my chest. "I know."

"And I can't _do_ anything—" Her voice broke.

I scooted closer and pulled her to me in one swift motion. "I know," I said around the lump in my throat, resting my cheek on her hair. I hugged her tightly as she broke down. "Gods, I know."

"What if he doesn't wake up?" she eventually asked into my chest.

"He will," I told her.

"You don't know that."

"I have to believe it, Annabeth. I'll go crazy."

She just shook her head against me, face buried in my shirt. "They don't deserve this."

"Neither did we," I murmured, "I don't think anyone ever does."

She took a deep breath and then sat up, looking out at the dark water again. "I can't believe it. Everything we went through and the Titans still figured out a way to get back again."

"I know," I repeated softly. There was nothing else to say.

"Percy, that boy _died_. He was fifteen. Logan's probably paralyzed and Nicky's going to have to live with seeing it all happen for the rest of his life… It isn't fair."

"I know."

"Everyone we lost during the Titan and Giant wars, at least we were fighting beside them, risking our own lives just as much. We all bled together. Now, we're supposed to just sit back and watch while our kids go and fight the same battles we were supposed to have already won." She turned to me in the dim moonlight. "When does it end?" she whispered. I shook my head helplessly. I had no answer for her. And I'd have been lying if I said the exact same thoughts hadn't been replaying themselves in my own mind since we'd arrived. "What are we supposed to do?" she asked after a painful moment. "If he can't walk?"

"I don't know," I admitted.

We sat together in silence for several minutes then, gathering the nerve to go back. Though I knew it wasn't, I still found myself hoping this was all a horrible nightmare and any minute I would wake up in a cold sweat to find everything okay again. It didn't happen.

* * *

Charlie was right where I'd left her when we returned, sitting in her chair, immersed in her book. She glanced up when we entered and gave a tiny, humorless smile in greeting before looking down again. We neared the boys' beds and peeked inside the curtain, first at Logan, who showed no change, and then over at Nicky—I started slightly to find him awake and then felt immediately guilty that no one had been here when he woke up. "Hey, champ," I sighed lightly as Annabeth passed by and moved to his bedside.

"You should sleep," she told him gently, smoothing his hair.

"Can't," he answered and looked between us. "Where did you go?" There was no accusation in his tone.

She glanced briefly across at me before looking back. "We needed some air," she told him, "We thought you'd stay asleep."

He nodded a little, but didn't speak right away. When he finally did, he changed the subject. "Logan's still the same." He didn't really say it like a question.

Annabeth sighed. "Yes."

He swallowed hard. "What if… What if he doesn't wake up?" He bit his lip.

She took a deep breath and met my eyes again. Then she sat down next to him on the small bed and wrapped her arms around him. "He will," she answered him just like I had her, and hugged him close. He let her hold him and leaned into her as a single tear traced its way down his face.

I looked on, feeling helpless as Nicky clung to her. After a moment, I noticed the figure waiting outside the curtain. Deciding the twelve-year old was in more than capable hands, I stepped out to meet the daughter of Apollo.

"Sorry," she said quietly, "I hope I'm not interrupting…"

I shook my head. "It's fine. Did you need something?"

"I just wanted to let you know that one of my brothers is coming in to take over for me in a few minutes. Is there anything you guys need before I go?"

"No, I think we're okay," I told her, "But thanks."

Charlie nodded. "I have archery in the morning, but I'll be back after that."

I nodded. "Have a good night."

"Thank you. You too."

"We'll try."

"Right," she said with only a little awkwardness before turning and walking away to await her relief for the night. I watched her go for a second before glancing back toward my family. Annabeth still held Nicky to her, having shifted into a more confortable position, half reclined in the bed with him now. He'd relaxed against her some and seemed content not to move. I hoped he'd be able to sleep some more. Gods knew he needed it. Annabeth met my eyes and gave the tiniest of nods in answer to my silent question. She'd be okay.

Mentally settling in for the long night, I moved to the empty chair beside Logan's bed but did not sit down right away. I stopped next to him and found myself frozen, thrust back into unpleasant memories from years earlier, when Annabeth had been the one in bed and I'd spent every moment possible by her side, juggling two young boys and a newborn on my own and praying she'd wake up. She'd beat the odds and recovered. I hoped that meant our son could too.

I sighed, ignoring the pang in my heart, and sat down beside the bed to take up that watch once again.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!  
**


	39. Harsh Reality

**Hello! I am so sorry for another long wait. Being a pre-med major allows for very little free time during the semester...**

* * *

It was a long night. At some point, exhaustion must have gotten the better of me in the quiet, dark infirmary. I didn't remember falling asleep with my crossed arms resting on the small mattress and my head atop them, but I woke up that way, disoriented and unsure of how long I'd been out. I sat up. Unfortunately, it was not the first time I'd slept in such a position.

A handful of nightlights spaced unevenly throughout the long room allowed for just enough light to safely navigate the beds and patients, and for me to make out the members of my family around me. Logan was still unconscious and a quick glance behind me revealed Annabeth still in Nicky's bed, holding him as he curled into her comforting embrace. Both of them appeared soundly asleep as well. I squinted down at the watch on my wrist. Between the dimness and my exhaustion, it took a second for my eyes to focus enough for me to read it. It was just after five. The sun would rise soon. With a sigh, I sat back, debating the merits of moving to one of the empty beds nearby and trying to sleep a few more hours. It was one of the last things I wanted to do with Logan's prognosis still so uncertain, but I definitely needed sleep and there was little else to do at this hour.

I stood and stretched, already feeling the effects of sleeping for several hours in a weird position—I wasn't sixteen anymore. I turned for the empty bed across the way and made it all of one step before a voice, weak and hoarse with disuse, stopped me dead in my tracks. "Dad."

I whirled around, my heart in my throat, and found Logan awake in bed, his eyes on me. "Hey," I breathed, crossing to him as quickly and quietly as possible, undiluted relief flooding me so violently I could have started full-on sobbing right there. "Hey," I repeated, stopping beside him and taking his hand. I released a breath. "Welcome back." I tried to be mindful of the people sleeping around me but the emotion flooding me was all-consuming and I honestly wasn't sure how quiet I was actually being. I turned on the lamp at his bedside, ignoring the urge to shy away from the sudden bright.

"How's—" Logan croaked, "Where's Nicky? Is he okay?"

"He's fine," I answered gently, indicating the bed behind me, "He's asleep. He's been really worried about you."

The next question was asked with enough hesitance that I knew he already knew the answer. "And… Sean?"

I took a deep breath and squeezed the hand I still held, shaking my head. "I'm sorry, champ."

Logan swallowed and took a deep breath as he nodded. "Nicky… he has to know this isn't his fault. That I got hurt… He blames himself for stuff, but this isn't… it's—"

"I know." I squeezed his hand. "We talked to him already. He'll be alright,"

He nodded and took another breath. "How-how long have I been here?"

"Persephone brought you back here last night. Chiron IMed us during dinner at Grandma's. It's almost the next morning."

I stepped away momentarily then and reached behind me to place a hand on Annabeth's exposed shoulder, shaking slightly. She was a light enough sleeper that it didn't take very long at all before her eyes opened and met mine. I offered a tiny smile and a small nod toward Logan's bed. She followed the cue and glanced over, craning her neck to do so with the position Nicky held her in.

I knew the second she noticed Logan was alive and conscious. Her eyes grew wide and she looked to be fighting against her own surge of emotion as she turned and, after a quick, obvious mental battle in deciding whether to wake him up or let him sleep, quickly but oh-so-gently extricated herself from Nicky, deftly replacing herself with a pillow for him to lie on. I half-expected him to wake up with the movement but he was really out and didn't stir.

Annabeth rushed to our eldest son and clearly would have flung herself on him if it hadn't been for his injuries. As it was, she pulled him to her with care and hugged him, burying her face in his hair. "Thank gods," she murmured, "Thank gods."

"It's okay, Mom," Logan told her quietly even while a strange expression had crossed his face.

She kissed his head and stepped back, assessing him. She, of course, noticed the look on his face immediately. "Are you okay, honey? Are you in pain?"

The legacy answered the question with a question. "How bad were my injuries?" he asked quietly, looking between us with that same odd expression.

Annabeth and I exchanged a quick glance. "They were pretty bad," I answered slowly. "You had—"

Annabeth cut me off. "Logan, can you feel your legs?" she asked firmly, an undercurrent of fear lacing her words.

"I…" he started, tears suddenly welling in his eyes. He shook his head and whispered, "I don't think so."

My heart sank just about to the floor as his words registered with me too late. Of course. _Of course!_ How could I have forgotten? I'd been so overwhelmed by the fact that he was awake, I'd completely forgotten the condition he was in, the severity of his injuries, his _spine_ … Gods.

My mind was reeling. Some small part of it managed to process Annabeth, devastation she tried to hide plain in her gray eyes, grabbing Logan's hand. "It's okay. It'll be okay," she told him. She turned to me then. "Get the Apollo camper." My brain didn't direct my response fast enough. "Percy."

I moved then, turning to go without a word. I had no idea what to say, what to do. How was one supposed to react to something like that, especially in front of a scared teenager? There was too much going on in my mind, but getting the Apollo camper was something I could do. So I put one foot in front of the other and went to find him.

There seemed to be a rotation of three campers that minded the infirmary each night. The one I woke up was different than the one who'd been there when I'd fallen asleep—three hours ago? Four? He didn't seem very phased at having been robbed of sleep as I briefly explained the situation and led him back to where Logan and Annabeth waited. I wasn't sure what the rest of the infirmary's occupants, who were supposed to be sleeping but who I really doubted still were, heard. It was the least of my concerns for the moment.

The camper, who introduced himself as Levi, set to thoroughly examining Logan, poking and prodding, asking him if this hurt or if he felt that. Logan was quiet and cooperative, almost to the point of complacency as the camper worked. He spoke only when spoken to and he looked crushed, even without the final verdict. I couldn't say I blamed him. I was still reeling; I could only imagine how much worse it was for him. It killed me having to watch, utterly useless.

Annabeth kept a firm hold on Logan's hand and watched intently as Levi checked his wounds and felt along his back, but she glanced away now and met my eyes. In hers, I could see more fear and devastation than I remembered seeing in a long, long time. And I knew exactly what she was feeling, because I felt it too. The thought that something was wrong with my child—it was paralyzing, infinitely worse than anything I'd ever felt for myself. And there was nothing at all I could do.

I was glad Nicky was still sleeping across the way. With as guilty as he already felt, the last thing he needed was to see this.

"How bad is it?" Logan managed in a whisper as Levi straightened and readjusted his blankets.

"It's hard to say," the son of Apollo admitted grimly, glancing briefly between Annabeth and me before focusing on Logan again. "Right now, there's still all lot of inflammation around your spine, so it's hard to tell exactly how bad the actual damage to it is. It's possible the pressure from the swelling is what's causing your paralysis and once that goes down, you might be able to walk again."

" _Might?"_

Levi sighed. "I'm sorry. Spinal injuries are hard. If its actual damage to your spinal cord that's causing this, it won't matter if the inflammation goes down or not. Injuries like that… well, they're usually permanent."

"Great," Logan replied harshly. "That's just great."

Levi just stepped back, looking resigned to his patient's reaction, and I wondered how much experience he had with giving earth shattering news. "I'm sorry."

Logan just shook his head. Levi silently turned to Annabeth and me. "Thank you," I said quietly. He nodded and then left.

As one, we watched him go and then looked at our son, now staring vacantly up at the ceiling. Annabeth reached for his hand but he pulled away. "Logan—"

"Please," he said in barely more than a broken whisper, "Can I just… have a few minutes? Alone?"

Something inside me shattered at that. Annabeth looked like she wanted to protest, but I stopped her with a hand on her back. "We'll be outside," I quietly told him.

Annabeth allowed me to guide her past the curtained off area that designated Logan's bed space, toward Nicky's. I pulled it closed and then stood with her outside the two. I hugged her. Or maybe she hugged me. Either way, we just stood outside the cordoned off space and held each other as tight as possible, without crying or speaking or screaming, all of which I might have considered doing. No reaction seemed adequate just now.

She spoke first, after what could have been minutes or hours, her voice a whisper in the still-dark infirmary. "We should tell Nicky."

I hated the idea. She was right. I sighed and then reluctantly nodded.

In the end, after a short, whispered conversation, we decided telling Nicky sooner rather than later was best. We hated to wake him, but it was better than him waking up and finding out the hard way about his brother. Not that this way would really be all that much easier…

Annabeth laid a hand on his arm and whispered his name in the dark room. He jerked slightly, his eyes flying wide, and then relaxed when he saw the two of us. "What happened?" he asked, fear tinging his voice.

She shushed him gently. "We want to talk to you," she said quietly.

"Why?" he asked more quietly but still anxiously, "Is Logan okay? What time is it?"

"It's about five-thirty," she said, not-so subtly ignoring his first question. "Let's go outside so we don't wake everyone up. Come on."

Nicky obediently complied, looking worried. He'd noticed his mother's omission. Together, we crossed to the infirmary's exit. The sky outside was lightening with the approaching dawn and the camp was utterly silent as we stood together on the Big House porch.

"Is Logan okay?" Nicky asked once more the moment the door closed behind us.

Annabeth took a deep breath and exchanged a glance with me. Looking back at him, she took another breath but didn't say anything for several more moments. I couldn't tell if the problem lay more in not knowing where to begin or in the ability to actually produce words in the moment, but Nicky was looking more panicked by the second.

I placed a hand on her arm and, steeling myself, took lead on the conversation.

"He woke up a few minutes ago," I informed the almost thirteen-year old.

Nicky straightened. "What? I want to see him!"

"You will," I promised. "But there's something you need to know before you do."

He looked between us. "What? Is he okay?"

I wanted to dance around the subject a little more, ease him into the idea, but I didn't know how to do that and I was too emotionally worn out to try. So I just told him, going to that place in my mind that kept my feelings out of the equation. "He's okay. He's awake and is going to live… But he can't feel legs, Nick. As of right now, he's paralyzed from the waist down."

Nicky blinked, and then blinked again as a sequence of emotions played across his features. Some I could read, some I couldn't. Shock was a pretty prevalent one and seemed to be the one that he let dominate for the time being as he asked. "Are you sure?" I just nodded, my insides twisting. He looked between us, his mouth open a little. "Is… is it permanent?"

Beside me, Annabeth wore a mask of calm except for her lips, which pressed together a bit too hard. I knew that tell. It meant she was trying not to cry in front of him. And she wouldn't because she was Annabeth and she had more self-control than anyone I knew, but gods, if it didn't break my heart anyway.

"We don't know yet," I answered, "The Apollo camper looked at him and said we won't know for sure until he heals a little. But if his spine is damaged, there's no fixing it."

Nicky was blinking faster now, holding back his own tears that threatened. I put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, bud."

He swallowed, shook his head, and whispered, "It's my fault."

"No," I said quickly, beating Annabeth, who opened her mouth to speak now, to protest, to it. "No, it's not." I hugged him. "It's not your fault." I hugged him another second but then let him go, stepping back to meet his eyes, to make sure he heard what I said next. "Logan knew what he was doing when he saved you. But it's all very fresh and he's really upset right now. We left him alone for a few minutes because he asked us to, and when you go in there, he might still be upset. But he doesn't blame you, okay? He loves you."

Nicky hesitated for a second but then nodded, holding my gaze with his. "Come here," I said and hugged him again. He held tight. Annabeth joined in and the three of us stood there for a long moment, sharing each others' strength, drawing out the seconds before we all had to face reality again.

"Ready?" I asked finally. Nicky nodded against me and pulled away from us. He moved for the door and I moved to follow before Annabeth grabbed my hand, stopping me. I looked at her. She just stared fixedly down at our entwined hands, probably trying to gather herself before heading back inside. I squeezed her hand and then stepped in to kiss her forehead. She let me and met my eyes when I stepped back again, her hand still clutched in mine.

"I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too."

A pause. "We're going to figure this out, right?"

"We're going to figure this out," I agreed quietly.

We were inside a moment later, moving down the now-familiar path to the end of the infirmary. The curtain had been left partially open, indicating Nicky's presence in Logan's room. A few steps closer allowed us to see in and we stopped.

Inside, Nicky kneeled on the bed with Logan, both boys' arms thrown around the other and gripping tight. Nicky's back was to us but Logan had tears running down his face. He did not look angry or bitter or broken though. He only looked sad; sad and taking comfort from his brother's presence, from the fact that he was alive and okay.

I grabbed Annabeth's hand and squeezed. It was a heartbreaking display, but there was also an air of hope in it that I couldn't quite place. This was a healing moment as much as it was a painful one. And I found myself thinking for the first time since receiving Chiron's IM the night before that maybe, just maybe, everything might eventually be okay.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading and, again, for your patience in waiting for these updates. T** **he holidays are coming and I will hopefully have more spare time to write then. I will try, I promise!**


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